BridgeWork
Wherever you live there’s one thing we all have in common, and nearby — a bridge. It might be a small one or a massive one, but bridges are all around us. If you commute to work, chances are you’ll use several of them every day.
From the simple design of an old, rickety one lane bridge on a country road to the incredible engineering of something like the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, bridges serve a lot of wonderful purposes. They’re a vital part of our transportation system. They’re also vital to other parts of our lives.
Think about all the functions of a bridge. A bridge:
- Connects two unconnected places, people or groups.
- Provides a cross-over point, closing a gap that obstructs or hinders relationships or interaction.
- Links places, people and groups together for greater development and potential productivity.
- Ties places, people and groups together and gives them a common identity and bond.
- Gives access to new places, relationships and experiences and provides an avenue of return to former places, people and groups.
A great life requires great bridges — great relational and emotional bridges with the right people. Most importantly, a great life requires a bridge to a personal relationship with God.
The greatest bridge ever built is not a physical one. It’s the bridge Jesus built when He came to earth, died for our sins and rose again. Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus made a way — a bridge — for sinful man to come into a personal relationship with the holy God. When we put our faith in Jesus, He becomes our bridge to God.
Just as Jesus is a bridge-builder, He wants you to be a bridge-builder. He wants to use you as a messenger of the Good News. Jesus has commissioned you to tell others about this bridge to God through faith in Him.
The Lord also wants to use you to connect people with people, to close gaps that hinder relationships, to link up with others for greater development and productivity, and to tie people together for the common good. He wants to help you, and to help you help others, gain access to new places, relationships and experiences. He wants to help you, and to help you help others, return to people and places we have run from and to relationships we need to reconcile.
While there are certain bridges that need to be burned, many more need to be built. There’s lots of bridgework that needs to be done in our world. Be a bridge-builder!
Dale O'Shields
For more information, visit the Church of the Redeemer's website.
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