September 21, 2023

We had to go to Miami for business and stayed in a new high-rise downtown across from the port. It was very high-tech and took some time to get used to. Though it might seem efficient and allow more people to have a waterfront view, staying in a building with fifty stories is a little concerning. What if there was an emergency and the elevators were not working or if there was a technical glitch? That’s a lot of stairs to have to maneuver. I would be especially concerned if it were my home. I don’t even want to deal with one flight of stairs, much less 50. It had a nice pool and gym, and it was across the street from a very cool mall, but what I loved most about the trip was the drive through the Everglades. Seeing the enormous river of grass does this Florida girl’s heart some good. However, driving across a road that cuts off its flow and seeing the canals diverting the water irritates me, but I feel God will soon restore it to its former beauty. 

Do you realize that when you accepted Jesus as your Savior, God forgave your sins and restored you to the beauty you were before sin touched you? That’s why you must maintain that beauty by repenting daily. I’m a country girl and go outside without shoes. Repenting every day is similar to washing my feet when I return inside; I don’t need to wash my whole body, just my dirty feet. I’m thinking, but cannot be sure, that repenting during the days leading up to The Day of Atonement may have been a practice in getting the people used to confessing their sins daily. 

Today, if you have harmed anyone by your actions, try your best to restore them. Zaccheus, of the New Testament, who was a tax collector, made restitution to those he had taken advantage of and made an offering to God, whom he also offended by his actions. See Luke 19:8.

Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering. Leviticus 6:5