The Old Castle

Raymond Key reflects upon a meaningful childhood memory…

“When I was a child, about three miles from the house where I was born in North Alabama, sat an empty, pre-Civil War castle with huge white columns in front and in back.  It was called “The Saunders Castle.”  What excitement when my father would take us children to see it.  It was deserted and unlocked, but in excellent condition with very ornate furniture, draperies, wall hangings, and all the accessories of stunning luxury.   Chinaware was on the dining room table as though the occupants were just about to sit down to eat. 

In the bedrooms the gold trimmed bedsteads still had all the bedding, including very luxurious spreads.  Down in the labyrinth underneath the castle was a mysterious dungeon and many were the speculations about it.  There was also great mystery about what had happened to the owners and previous occupants.  Even a booklet had been written about the "Saunders Castle," but it did not settle the speculations about it, nor reveal what had happened to the last occupants.

In later years as I would pass by on return visits to my parents’ home, I remembered how beautiful it had been in times past, before vandals had wrecked it.  And they had wrecked it - even to the tearing up of the stair treads. Long neglected, the furniture was gone, walls were broken, paint was fading and peeling.  Even the stone wall had been wrecked as the vandals looked for gold which was reported to have been found inside the house hidden in some secret place.

I sometimes wondered, how much it would cost to restore this old castle. Could it even be saved? How I wished someone would move in and fix up the abandoned old place! Or perhaps the State could take it over!  I knew it had the potential to be beautiful again.” *

That old "Saunders Castle" is a lot like many of us… We come into this world created by our Maker to be whole and perfect.  But then, due to our wrong choices,
we become marred by sin and destined for destruction.

But God sent Jesus to restore our lives to something beautiful.  He gave His life to pay the price to restore us to what we were created to be: sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty!

Jesus will wash away our sins and purify us as children of God when: we place our faith and trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38).  Then, as Raymond Key states, Christians may “look forward to Christ's coming again with the promise that, in a single moment, He will complete the work of restoration. Then each of us will become immortal, incorruptible and glorified for eternity!”

Won’t YOU allow Him to restore your life to what it was intended to be through your trusting obedience?