Bridges
“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Tim. 2:5, NASB)
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge connecting the Olympic Peninsula to the rest of the Puget Sound region is a remarkably important connection in so many ways. The bridge spans a narrow waterway of approximately one mile distance over cold and fast waters with currents that can run at 8 knots or more during tide changes with water temperatures that hit their warmest temperatures in the month of August at an average temperature of around 53 degrees fahrenheit. At currents running this fast it would be difficult to paddle and impossible to swim as you would likely become exhausted and freeze to death before reaching the other side. It is even difficult for small boats to navigate if the current is not favorable.
This bridge also connects the main land mass to a vast peninsula of 3,600 square miles bordered on one side by the Hood Canal and on the other the vast waters of the Puget Sound. The Olympic Peninsula is also the gateway to the vast recreational opportunities beyond in the Olympic Mountains, the Straits of Juan De Fuca, and the Pacific Ocean beaches. Approximately 90,000 cars per day cross this bridge without much thought to the options if this bridge did not exist. To drive around to the South from Tacoma to Gig Harbor (towns that sit only a few miles apart across the narrows) it would be well over 100 miles of driving and several hours as much of the route would not be high speed freeway driving.
What is the point of considering the importance of this bridge to the residents of this area who depend on it for daily travel? My entire point with all of this today is to consider our one and only bridge to the Father God, Jesus Christ. We stand as helpless on one side of the gap between us and God as we would be looking across this narrow waterway as a pedestrian without a boat or a vehicle in our possession to drive the long way around. We cannot make it across to the other side without the bridge being in place. We are completely helpless and dependent upon our mediator Jesus Christ. He is our only bridge to reach God and obtain eternal life.
I hope that you take the time today to consider the blessing and gift of eternal life that we are offered through our mediator Jesus Christ. He is the one and only way, the “bridge” to salvation and unlike the Tacoma Narrows Bridge that charges $5.00, His gift is completely free to you even though it cost Him everything.
