...restore it in full

and shall add a fifth to it.

               Leviticus 6. 5

(More than saying "sorry."

Making it right

     is going to cost something,

almost always

         including our pride.

Sin always promises the world

and justifies every action

    --"it doesn't matter,"

      "no one will ever know"--

and it robs us blind. 

Every time.

That is what the book of Leviticus

           is all about:

forgiveness and restoration.

"This is the way back to Me,

not if you sin,

         but when you do."

We are all broken.

We are already forgiven.

That is why Jesus came.)

O LORD,

We come to You broken.

We have sinned against You

                 and against others,

by what we have done,

by what we have left undone,

      by even our attitudes.

Your forgiveness already here

   helps us to know

   how to forgive each other

             and forgive ourselves.

Asking forgiveness,

    offering forgiveness,

is never a passive response.

Help us to seek You

and follow You

     into restoration,

even into the added fifth.