The Shadow Knows

Colossians 1:13,14

Growing up in late 1940’s and early in the fifty’s in what would today be called an under resourced family, for you who have trouble with those new terms, we are talking poor.  What did you do after it got dark?  Well, my brother and sister did homework, but after that you listened to the radio.  What did you listen to before going to bed; the “Shadow Knows.”  Now the great thing about radio is that your imagination comes on full-blown and you imagined the pictures in your mind.  So what kind of pictures does the “Shadow Knows” foster in a young imagination?  Not good, no not good at all, and then you go to bed!  It is dark and my brother, who shared the bed, begins to make shadows with the moonlight coming into our small bedroom.  And people question why I’m like I am today, the Shadow knows.

I’m much better, thank you, but I still do not like darkness, the darkness holds secrets, it misinforms with shadows that seem to be real, is that a wild mountain lion; no it is only a bush.  So how does this tie into Colossians 1:13,14?  This is what we find in that verse; “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Often, my mother would understand that I was frightened by the darkness, the shadows, and she would tell me, “Bobby, you should not listen to that show before going to bed, it makes you fearful of the dark.”  That was great advice, but the enticement, the mystery, was too desirable to pass up.  Could that be the bait that the enemy of our soul is using on us?

God has delivered us from the domain of darkness, it’s a done deal; He is the light that guides our path in the worst of storms, in absence of light when the shadows fill our imagination.  But He has done so much more; he has already transferred us to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.  And the darkness may entice you with it’s mystery, but have you not experienced enough fear, enough pain, it is your choice; if you are in Christ, you are already transferred, you are redeemed and forgiven of all sins.

I’ve heard teachers, and preachers call this a positional truth, and there are Greek words for that; nonsense and baloney, such teaching is disrespectful to our God. “Because of our vital union with Christ, His death is our death, His life is our life, and His exaltation is ours. Our physical position may be on earth, but our spiritual position is “in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

All of the verbs in regard to our vital union in Christ are in the past tense. The apostle Paul is stating what has already taken place, not what is future.” (Wil Pounds taken from Ephesians 2:4-6)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice