Leave Your Gift for God at the Altar, Part 2

So, if you bring your gift to the altar,

and there remember that your brother has something against you,

leave your gift there before the altar and go your way;

first be reconciled to your brother and then come offer your gift.

Matthew 5:23-24

In the late 1940’s, Brother Oral Roberts, a prince in the kingdom of God, wrote a book titled, If You Need Healing – Do These Things.  In it, he dealt with many aspects of healing, including what to do after being healed.  Part of his counsel to healed people included this paragraph, from page 44:

Some people lose their healing because after being well they cease to receive attention. . . .  When you are healed, God expects you to get your mind off yourself and devote your attention to His service by working as a laborer in the white harvest fields of suffering humanity.

This is an extremely important point, for it applies to being forgiven and cleansed from sin as much as it does to being healed.   One’s repentance before God will last and have its full effect only if after being forgiven by God, he reconciles with those whom he has wronged.  There is something wonderful that happens within our hearts when we humble ourselves to a wronged brother or sister and confess our fault.  Nothing can take the place of that simple, godly act, for, as Jesus said, it makes our repentance truly complete and our worship acceptable to God.

May God help us to do His will quickly and not miss the golden opportunities God gives us to do the things that “make for peace and joy”.  If we love the fellowship of Christ enough to pursue it, we will reap the benefits that are promised to the faithful children of God.