Uninterrupted thinking comes my way when I’m riding the tractor and ponder many things to the droning of a diesel engine. I’m not sure my thoughts are profound; in fact, I’m pretty sure they are not. Just the other day as I was mowing the back field I was focusing on the matter of burning bridges. Not literal bridges and real flames. You know; “Don’t burn your bridges.” It struck me that too many people too quickly burn too many bridges. Having done so, they find themselves isolated from others, and then they tend to blame others for their own feeling of isolation.
Instead of burning bridges it would be far wiser to build bridges. There is a little verse I remember. It goes like this: “You can build a wall or you can build a bridge. If you build a wall, your world’s too small, but a bridge of love will cover all.” You get the point. Building walls is like burning bridges. Too many walls and a few burnt bridges have put many people in the pit of loneliness and bitterness. No way to live and God never intended it to be that way.
We can take a cue from God Himself. He is the master contractor when it comes to bridge building. He is also the divine demolition man. God built the most spectacular bridge that has ever spanned any gulf. It was a bridge built with love. Since all have sinned and fall short of God, He took it upon Himself to not only build a bridge, but to be the bridge. The Bible says that “…He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”–II Corinthians 5:21 NKJV. Our Lord also razes walls. Where there are walls of division, Christ comes to tear them down. Once again we turn to Holy Scriptures. “For He Himself is our peace, who hath made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation” —Ephesians 2:14 NKJV.
As followers of our Savior, let us look to His example. May we not be burning our bridges and building our walls. Rather may we be busy building bridges and tearing down walls of division.
–Terry Morrison