THE BRIDGE
There once was this turntable bridge which spanned a large river.
During most of the day, the bridge sat parallel with the river,
allowing ships to pass freely on both sides. But at certain times
each day a train would come along and the bridge would be turned
across the river allowing the trains to cross. A switchman 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 switchman 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's light. He stepped to the controls and
waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was to
turn the bridge into position. He turned the bridge, but to his
horror, found that the locking control didn't work. If the bridge
was not locked into position securely, it would wobble back and forth
at the ends when the train comes onto it. This would cause the train
to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This train was 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 he could use to operate the lock
manually. He could hear the rumble of the train now. He took hold of
the lever and leaned backward to apply pressure to keep the mechanism
locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength.
Then, coming across from the direction of his control shack he heard
a sound that make 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 lifted the lever to run and snatch up his son,
and carry him to safety, but he realized he could not get back to the
lever in time. Either the people on the train or his little son must
die.
He took just a moment to make his decision.
The train sped swiftly and safely on it's way, and no one aboard was
aware of the tiny, broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by
the rushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of a
sobbing man still clinging tightly to the lever long after the train
had passed. They didn't see him walking home more slowly than he had
ever walked, to tell his wife how he had sacrificed her son.
Now, if you can comprehend the feelings, which went through this man's
heart, you can understand the feeling of our Heavenly Father when he
sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life.
How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving a
thought to what was done for us through his Son, Jesus Christ? Can
there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies
to darken when His only Son died?