“Submit to God and be at peace with Him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from His mouth and lay up His words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you. Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.” – Job 22:21-28

Here we go again. Another new year has arrived, and we have much to thank God for. As with years gone by, I started to put a list of things I want to do this year, but this time I want this list to be different. Instead of calling it “resolutions” I’d like to refer to this list as “restitutions”. I always end up breaking my resolutions anyway, so I thought I’d put a new spin on things this year.

One of the simple dictionary definitions of ‘restitution’ is: restoration to the former or original state or position. I thought about our house. It’s in dire state of repair. I loved it when we first bought it. It had such a charm and appeal. But after living in it for over 15 years, its former glory is fading. Forget about renovation, our house needs restoration before we can even think about making improvements on it. So, I placed our house on my New Year’s Restitution list.

As people, we also need to be restored first before we can move on. Our bodies need time [and effort!] to recover from lack of proper diet and exercise. Strained relationships need to be addressed before they can be deepened. Proper attention must be given to pecuniary details to get the right footing back due to financial indiscretions made in the past. Churches and congregations often need to be restored in its life of prayer and worship in order to advance its ministry to the community they serve.

Spiritually, restitution is vital. Adam and Eve’s bad decision in Eden ruined the relationship God wanted to have with us. Restitution was required to bring it back to the way God intended. This came through Jesus Christ, fulfilled in His death and resurrection. My prayer is that this New Year brings in significant restitutions in your life – beginning with your relationship with Jesus Christ.

To get back on track, get back to God!