Are you a bridge?

Are you a Bridge?

John 17:20-26

I’m praying not only for them but also for those who will believe in me because of them and their witness about me.  The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, so they might be one heart and mind with us.

 

When I was growing up, my Great Aunt Sue lived across the Kanawha River from Glen Ferris.  Below the falls in the river was the creaky old bridge we would cross to drive to her house.  At the far end of the bridge was a small trailer where a man sat to collect tolls.  This was not a toll bridge, but he didn’t care.  To cross the bridge, you had to pay him money.  He was an unnecessary and unauthorized obstruction to reaching the other side.

 

What is the purpose of a bridge? According to the Googler’s friend, Wikipedia, a bridge is “constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually something that is otherwise difficult or impossible to cross.”  A bridge provides a way for us to reach something otherwise unattainable.

 

In today’s scripture from John 17, we are overhearing Jesus’s conversation with God.  Jesus is praying not only for his disciples, but also for those who will believe in Christ because of them.  If you think about it, Jesus, in this passage, is praying for us.  “The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind-just as you, Father are in me, and I in you, so they might be one heart and mind with us.”

 

I think it is more than amazing that Christ prayed for you and for me, for each of us and for all of us over 2000 years ago.  He prayed that we would be evidence to the world that God sent Christ to us and loved us in the same way God has loved Christ.  Did you catch that? He prayed that we would be evidence that God loves us the same way God loves Christ.    We are called to be the bridge so that other people can reach the unattainable conclusion that they are loved by God – beyond measure.

 

What kind of bridge will you be?  Will you be a bridge like Christ – opening the way for others to come to new life? Or will you be the obstacle like the man who collected tolls on the way to my Aunt Sue’s house?

 

Prayer: Loving God, open the way for us to be bridges to the knowledge of your love instead of obstacles.  In your son’s name, Amen.

Note: The above devotional was written by me for the West Virginia Annual Conference Advent devotional ministry.