Restitution

Last night I made myself coffee. This would not have been a memorable event had I not somehow managed to drop the cup just as I exited the kitchen. The mug shattered into innumerable pieces and coffee splattered in all directions, covering floors, walls and furniture in a sticky mess.
This was to be my last cup of coffee for the day, before retiring to bed. I had done all that needed doing that day and was going to relax with this last cuppa before settling down for the night. Then I dropped the mug. In an instant, all of my plans had changed.
I scowled as I stood in the middle of the passageway, with doors leading into three rooms, from where I stood. The mess had managed to spill into each of these three rooms. What had happened, was that I had passed the mug from my right hand to my left, in order to switch the lights off in the kitchen, when I somehow miscalculated this oft repeated action and dropped the mug on the floor.
I had no one to blame but myself as I stood in bewildered disbelief, staring down at the mess I had inadvertently created. Then I scowled some more when I realized that not only did I not have anyone to blame, but I also did not have anyone to sympathize with me in my predicament. Worse, I had no one to assist me in cleaning up this mess.
I carefully stepped over the pieces of broken glass, not managing to avoid stepping in the coffee. I bent down to pick up the larger pieces and dropped these in a box that I would discard later. Then I located some paper kitchen towels to dry up the spill, opting to use my shoe-ed feet, rather than my bare hands, to dab up the wetness from between the sharp shards of glass.
When the floor was finally dry, I fetched a broom and dustpan, and studiously swept every nook and cranny to clear it from glass splinters. When this was done, I could finally put a mop to the floor. As my house consists of only five rooms, and three of these had in any case been affected by the mess, I decided I may as well mop all the floors while I was at it.
It was during this long and tedious cleanup procedure, that I started philosophizing about life in general, and about what had just happened in particular. I had had a pretty rotten day, compared to the preceding weeks, and in a sense, I felt as if I had come down from a spiritual high. I had been ministering and working full steam for weeks on end, during which time I had enjoyed the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit. Yesterday was the first time in a long time that I could simply relax, and I threw myself into it with vigour. I shortened my Bible Study time and decided to put a movie on, rather than to end the evening in prayer. I felt it was 'safe' to do so, as it was unlikely that anyone would make a spiritual appeal to me before the next day.
And then, in the process of switching off the light behind me, I dropped the mug and spilled the liquid that I was going to use to soothe my soul with. I am a coffee-holic and I drink coffee as a reward, as an encouragement, as a motivator, and as a comfort. But on this night, my coffee had failed me. The truth is though, that I had failed myself.
I had decided to live a self-indulgent life, however short it may have been. It was when I walked away from the light, when I deliberately dimmed it, when I moved things from a strong hand to a lesser hand, that I lost control over the events of my life and things fell apart. And I lost my comforter. And I had no one to blame but myself, for my willful disobedience and self-indulgence.
I hardly need to point out the spiritual analogies in this story, do I?
Cleaning up after myself was a tedious mission, but it was something that could not be avoided. Just so, we create other kinds of messes in life as well. Turning back to the light, is a simple action. For me, it was as simple as flipping a switch. In the bigger picture, it is as simple as praying a prayer of sincere repentance. Forgiveness is instantaneous. However, the messes we have created, may still prevail. Even after forgiveness has been granted, we may still need to go back to those we have left staggering in our wake, those we have hurt, cheated, destroyed. Do not ignore the sticky messes and the broken shards of your life. Remove the bigger pieces painstakingly, one at a time. Do you risk getting injured? Certainly. Do it anyway. Dab up the wet spill. Sweep up the smaller shards. Mop up the residue. Sometimes cleaning up, means going over the same spot more than once.
And don't expect anyone to sympathize with you, to encourage you, or even to thank you. You will probably be on your own in this, and unless you do what I did, which is to write it down and publish it, chances are that nobody will even acknowledge what you'd done. Do it anyway. It is your mess to clean up.
I will leave you with one more thought. When I had dropped the mug, some of the coffee had spilled onto my clothes and into my shoes. Worse, some of the shards of glass had become embedded in my soft-soled shoes as I stepped over the mess to reach the cleaning materials. I donned a fresh set of clothes almost immediately. And then, after exposing myself to possible injury in the clean-up, all that was left to do, was for me to remove the glass splinters from my shoes, and to wash my feet. When I was done, I was left with a beautiful clean house with the fresh scent of the perfumed cleaning materials, wafting through the air. And I was robed in clean clothes with newly washed feet. Again, analogies barely require pointing out.

Luke 19:1-8 Restitution
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 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.”

John 13:6-9 Washing of feet
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Revelations 6:11 New robes
And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.

Acts 3:19 Repentance
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out,that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

Hebrews 10:26-31 Willful sin
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
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