I follow a group on Face Book called Abandoned Places where people find and enter dilapidated old houses and mansions that have been ravaged by time and neglect. Some have vestiges of their former grandeur such as sweeping staircases and woodwork. Streams of sunlight that used to dance upon stained window panes have become dirty where no sunlight can dance at all. Abandoned possessions such as antique furniture and dusty old tapestries still remain covered in time. Dusty plates and cups sit on sideboards along with hanging cobwebs. Floors that used to support many a happy time such as balls and parties have disappeared from mold and damp. Yawning silence is all that remains of rooms once filled with sounds … laughter, tears, music and love. All of this desolation could be made over again, but at a costly price.

But I find the saddest of all are the pictures left behind in their tarnished frames. Pictures of the families that owned these great Victorian manors and enjoyed their splendor. Echoes of the past can be felt from smiles caught in a moment of time. Perhaps if you sit very still, you could almost hear their voices. It was all so beautiful in the past until time and neglect took its dreadful toll.

The same thing happens to an unrepenting soul.

When God created the earth and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, things were beautiful. They never had to worry about a missed meal or money. They walked and talked with God. But sin was allowed in and that beautiful beginning turned into a nightmare for man. Sin is our neglect.

Much as those abandoned places, sin can eat away at the soul and leave a yearning for something more. That ‘something more’ was made for only One … God.  It was because of His unwavering love for us that He sent His Son to die on a cruel cross so that we don’t have to pay the costly price of sin. If we only turn to Christ, our lives become so much more than they were. We become filled with light, love and praise. However, humans are stubborn creatures. We can’t seem to comprehend how easy it is to be saved from a world of sin. Surely, we must do more than just believe and accept Jesus into our hearts.

But it is that simple. All we have to do is believe Jesus is the Son of God and ask Him to come into our heart. “Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” – Isaiah 43:19 … And He will fill the abandoned places.