THE BRIDGE

There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge.

But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing a train to cross it. A switch man sat in a small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed.
 

One evening as the switch man was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights. He stepped to the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work.
 

If the bridge was not securely in position it would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it, causing the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard.
 

He left the bridge, turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually.

He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength.

Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. "Daddy, where are you?"His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him.

His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realized that he could not get back to the lever.

Either the people on the train or his little son must die. He took a moment to make his decision.

The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the on rushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed.

The bridge master is like God and the people on the train are like us whom are selfish and only think of our own selves. God sacrificed His one and only Son, Jesus Christ Who died on the cross for our Sins. God is always watching us. Looking down at us and guiding us in our everyday lives. He doesn’t want us to get hurt or lose our way. He wants us to follow Him and not be taken by the dark side. God loves us so much that He even sent His Son - Jesus Christ to take away all our sins. Sometimes we even forget to thank Him, and instead we still make the things he doesn’t want us to do. God the Father is like our own dad. He wants the best for us and he doesn’t want us to get hurt or be on the wrong side. Somehow, even in the simplest ways or may be in our greatest ways, we should always obey Him. He gave us this life we have right now and we surely have to use it for good.

Now, if you comprehend the emotions that went through this man’s heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of Our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life.

Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His Son died? How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done for us through Jesus Christ?

When was the last time we thanked Him for the sacrifice of His Son?

God sacrificed His one and only Son to give us hope for the future. To remind us that whatever happens, God will always be with us. Even if we've done a lot of awful things in our pasts or have lost our faith in Him. We are only human and we make sins. We have to always trust in him. He will never forsake us. If He sent His only begotten Son for us to be saved from the fires of hell, what more could He give us if we only stand by His side? God loves us so much and we ought to give the love back by obeying Him. No matter what happens, God will never leave us alone throughout our journey in this world.

“For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish, but have an eternal life.”

(John 3:16)

WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD