Great Doors: Rhuddlan Castle

Rhuddlan Castle is North Wales is one of those huge fortresses built by the invading English to subdue the fierce principality. Its architect, Master James of Savoy, planned it in a diamond shape with two massive towers serving as twin gatehouses. I’ve never seen this in a castle before and suspect it is unique. Master James was having fun experimenting, yet his imagination was addressing a very serious issue- the entrance to a castle is always its weakest point. These gigantic twin-towers therefore defend Rhuddlan’s greatest vulnerability. Although Rhuddlan was frequently attacked, it fell once only, in the civil war. Master James did his job well.

Jesus said in Matthew 6: 22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

In other words, the eye is an entrance to the heart. When we look at filth, filth enters us. When we behold God’s goodness, that same goodness permeates the whole person. Take the lesson from Master James- guard what you see and where you look. The enemy will attack the gatehouse before the wall.