If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. Ezekiel 33:15
The Lord wants us to give back that which is "robbed" or has been taken away.
You can't always do it right away, but you need to work at it. Sometimes it is difficult to get things taken care of, yet restitution is part of God’s plan. When we say "I’m sorry" it does not absolve us from a "follow-through" if we are able. Merely religious people say "I'm sorry", but don’t make an effort to "make it right". In salvation, we turn and continue to go the new way.
Additionally, we need to have wisdom and possibly counsel on how to make restitution. Sometimes there are things that we have done, that we must be careful about going back and correcting, as those things are bigger than what "we" can undo. This is a time that godly counsel can be of a great benefit, to help us know how God wants us to handle it, for His honor and glory.
And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:1-10
The people that were with Jesus, had a certain idea about who Jesus should be working with, and who he should be keeping company with. Jesus had a different vision and purpose. We must be careful and not tell Jesus what the vision and purpose is, because it is His vision and purpose, not ours.
And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. Luke 19:8
Zacheaus was truly desiring to be right and completely clear. God’s purpose is to seek and save that which was lost. Even if we paid the debt that we owed to men, we still owe a debt to God. All of us have spent too many years in sin. Too many people don’t take it to heart that when we turn, we still owe God our lives. So we are always behind in that respect. We always will owe him our best!
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