Restitution

Still Waters

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." (Luke 19:8 NIV)

When Alfred Nobel’s brother died, a newspaper mistakenly believed that it was him who had died and published his obituary stating, "The merchant of death is dead". Alfred (a prosperous armaments manufacturer and the inventor of dynamite) must have been so saddened by the way people thought of him that he willed the bulk of his money fund The Nobel Prizes among them the Nobel Peace Prize.

Zacchaeus the tax collector on being convicted of his sinfulness undertook to give to the poor and to recompense anybody he had cheated as a sign of his new found righteousness. Tax collectors of the day and even today abuse their power and collect what is not proper. Have you considered repaying or recompensing for any ill gotten gains? “Say to the Israelites: 'When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the LORD, that person is guilty and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged”. (Numbers 5:7). Even though no act can take the place of righteousness, faith that does not invoke the conscience is questionable.Restitution brings peace.

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The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works. St. Augustine

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