Making It Right

“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 (KJV)

Moody says that real repentance often shows itself in a desire to make things right with people we have wronged. The old word for this is “restitution”. When Zacchaeus met Jesus, he immediately promised to pay back anyone he had cheated four times over.

Moody tells a powerful story. A man came to him in great distress. When he was young, he said, his widowed mother had been sinking into poverty. They owned a building insured for a thousand dollars, and when he was twenty, he set fire to it and gave the insurance money to his mother.

For twelve years that sin haunted him. “I have tried to drown it by indulgence in pleasure and sin,” he told Moody. “I have cursed God; I have gone into infidelity; I have tried to make out that the Bible is not true.” Nothing worked. He was tormented.

Moody told him there was a way out: make restitution. Work out how much with interest, and pay the insurance company back.

“It would have done you good to see that man’s face light up when he found there was mercy for him.”

Notice that the man wasn’t forgiven because he paid the money back. Jesus forgives freely. But a heart that has truly turned to God wants to put right what it can.

Moody says some people stay “in darkness and bondage” because they are not willing to turn from their sins and confess them. Being honest, saying sorry, giving back what you took, or telling the truth about a lie can feel scary. But it often brings huge freedom.

A word of wisdom here: making things right should be done wisely. If it involves something serious, talk it through with a trusted adult first. And making things right never means putting yourself in danger, or going back to someone who has hurt you. Sometimes the right thing is simply to be honest with God and get good advice.

Moody ends this part with a story from a prison in Colorado. A governor visiting the prison found a young prisoner whose cell window was full of carefully tended flowers. The young man said his mother had loved flowers, and they reminded him of her. The governor was so moved that he pardoned him on the spot. Moody says that when God sees “that beautiful flower of true repentance” in someone’s heart, salvation comes to them.

One thing to do this week: ask God to bring to mind anyone you need to make things right with: an apology, returning something, owning up to a lie. Choose one, talk to a wise adult if you need to, and do it this week.