Colossians 1:13-14 says, For he [Jesus] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

What does it mean to be rescued? There are wildfires that break out, people trapped in flood waters from hurricanes, trapped in countries as prisoners of war, and I wonder, what does it mean for them to be rescued? It means they were pulled out of dangerous places. And, do you think they want to go back to these places?

Think about it, does a prisoner of war who has been rescued want to go back to the very place they were imprisoned? So, why is it that if Christ has rescued us from darkness that we would want to go running back into it? It’s like the Israelites, they were freed from Egyptian rule, and they grumbled and complained saying, “Let us go back to Egypt.” Why do we do this? Perhaps it is more comforting to be enslaved than it is to be rescued?

So, Christ followers, we need to stubbornly refuse to go back to the very dominion of darkness that Jesus has rescued us from. And, if we find ourselves drifting back to darkness, may we be bold enough to repent and say, “Father, I repent that I have drifted back into the same system of darkness that your son, Jesus, has rescued me from and I confess to you that I don’t want to stay there, I want to come back to you.”

So, friends, I beg us all to not want to return to darkness and to not dredge up any old thoughts or behaviors that kept us enslaved. I bless us all in letting the old ways die so the new ways can live in us.