If you do any driving at all, you know that you can’t go far without crossing a bridge. I would not get far from my little town without a bridge. On a main highway, near my home we had a bridge taken out of service for repairs. It was out of service for nearly a year. Anybody that traveled this highway had to go 30 minutes or more out of the way to reach their destination. It’s incredibly inconvenient and frustrating to deal with bridges being out. We could end up stuck if we didn’t have bridges to cross over.
The same way in our lives, if we travel very far we will have to build bridges. These bridges connect us to other people in way of our relationships with them. Sometimes the bridge we have to build is to cross cultures, preconceived ideas, different thoughts or social statuses in life.
Did you know that to avoid Samaria, Jewish travelers in the first century would often go significantly out of their way, typically adding two to three days and roughly 70 miles to their journey between Judea and Galilee? While most Jews of the time took long detours to avoid the region, the Bible states that Jesus “had to go through Samaria” (John 4:4). Jesus would meet the Samaritan woman here and an entire town would come to Him. All because Jesus built a bridge.
Sometimes the bridges in relationships in our lives are damaged and need to be repaired. Have you ever avoided someone because of a damaged bridge? You find yourself looking for another route to take even if it may cause you inconvenience. Maybe you’re not avoiding the person physically but emotionally. Maybe you’re avoiding a conversation that you don’t want to have. Either way, you’re exhausting yourself trying to find another way. If we don’t take time to repair them, we may become stuck in place. We may become frustrated with all the work it takes to get around a situation because of a damaged bridge.
Take the time to repair the bridge. Take the time to build bridges with those around you. Yes, it may take time and it may be difficult at times. But building bridges was never easy. We are supposed to be bridge builders after all.
Ephesians 4:32 KJV And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Leviticus 19:34 NIV The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
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