The Bridge
THE BRIDGE
There was once a turn table bridge which spanned a large river.
During most of the day, the bridge sat parallel with the tracks, 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 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 came 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 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 to 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?
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