Remit

By Melissa Vander Velde

Today I want to look at the word remit. Remit, as a verb, means to cancel or refrain from exacting or inflicting a debt or punishment. As Christians we have been remitted from our sins; we no longer need to die for what we should have died for because Christ took our sins upon Himself that we might have life and have it abundantly. 

“He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.” - Colossians 2:14 NLT

I am so thankful that He cancelled my debt, but I don’t want to just look at the remittance of our sins. I want to look a little farther at another definition of remit: sending something to an authority to allow them to make a decision about it.

This usually happens in court cases; the evidence is submitted to a higher authority, and they look at the evidence and make a verdict or decision about what should happen based on the evidence provided. Not only have we been remitted of our sins, but we have the ability to turn things over to a higher authority and allow Him to make a decision for us. 

There are so many things we try to decide throughout our life, but I wonder how many of us take it to Jesus and ask Him what His decision would be. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.” - Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

We have to trust, lean not on our own understanding, and acknowledge Him in order for Him to direct our path. We all say we want to have God guide us, but when it comes down to it do we really follow what He says? It is easy to give something to God and ask for His wisdom, but the hard part begins when we must then do what it is He is telling us to do. 

Once we remit something to the Lord, we then need to allow His decision to be the outcome. When an authority makes a decision the defendant doesn’t get to try to convince them to change their mind or try to bargain their way out of the decision by only doing part of what the sentence is. The authorities word is final, and the sentence is carried out. How often do we take things to God and ask Him for a decision only to then argue with the outcome, only partially follow it, or ignore it completely?

What do you need to remit to Jesus today? Is it your plans, a relationship, a decision that must be made about something, a job opportunity? The list can go on and on, but the point is we have a higher authority that we can submit not only our lives to, but the decisions that need to be made in our lives. 

Challenge:

My challenge to you today is to think about where you are at and see if there is something you need to submit to the Father for an answer, but don’t stop there, carry out whatever it is that He is asking you to. The defendant doesn’t get to argue, they only get to accept the decision that is made. Thankfully the higher authority we are submitting ourselves to knows us so intimately, sees things we don’t, wants the best for us, and makes the most informed decisions for us.