The Bridge
By: Author Unknown

There once was a turntable bridge that spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with it's length running up and down the river parallel with the banks, to let the ships pass freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times of each day a train would come along and the bridge would be tuned sideways across the river, allowing the train to cross.

A switchman lived in a small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to tun the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed.

One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train to cross, he looked into the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train's lights. He stepped to the controls and waited until the train was the proper distance before he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but to his horror, he found that the locking device didn't work!

If the bridge was not securely locked into position, the bridge would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it, causing the train to jump the tracks and go crashing into the river. this was a passenger train with many people on board.

He left the bridge in place across the river and hurried to the other side of the river where there was a lever which he use to operate the lock manually. He could hear the rumble of the train now and took hold of the lever, leaned backwards to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on his strength.

Then coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack came a sound that made his blood run cold. "Daddy 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 accross the bridge on time. Either the people in the train, or his small 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 was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river below by the onrushing train. Nor were there any passengers who were aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man still clinging to the lever long after the train had passed. They didn't see him walking him slower than he had ever walked before to tell his wife he had sacrificed their son.

Now if you can begin to comprehend the feelings that went through this man's heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of our Heavenly Father when he sacrificed his son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. Can there be any wonder that He caused the skies to darken and the earth to shake when His son died? And how does he feel when we speed through life without giving a thought for what He had done for us by his son, Jesus Christ?

When was the last time you thanked Him for the sacrifice of His son for you?