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, parallel to its banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times of the day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways along the river, allowing the train to run through it.
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 trainlights. 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 that 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 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 firmly back 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 firmly 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 4 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 and his tiny legs would never make it across the river in time.
The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realised 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 onrushing 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. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked to tell his wife how their son had brutally died.
Now if you can comprehend the emotions which were in 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 sky to darken when His Son died? How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving thought to what was done for us through Jesus Christ?
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For GOD so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
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