|
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 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
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 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 comprehend the emotions which 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?
by Joseph Vogel
|
