If you live in a place where there are bridges, chances are you’ve been taking some detours and/or waiting your turn in line lately. At present, it seems like every bridge in the country is closed for repairs.

Where I live, for example, there are at least four nearby bridges that are getting some necessary updates and are either completely shut down, or restricted to one lane. For us, this translates into at least twice the travel time as normal. Taking the kids to school takes 30 minutes instead of the usual 15 and since we have to take the long way, there’s no such thing as a quick trip to the grocery store for milk.

And it’s not like we can tell the bridge worker guys to just “hurry it up,” because if they hurry and do shoddy work in the process, well, that wouldn’t be good.

What a great reminder of how much we depend on bridges to make our way through life, to get from where we are right here to where we want to be over there. Personally, I’ll never take a safe, functional bridge for granted again.

This makes me think of a bridge that has been working beautifully for 2,000 years without interruption, giving scores of people safe passage from one side to the other. It’s the bridge between God and man and His Name is Jesus.

The Bible explains to us that at one time there was a seemingly impossible gap between us and our Creator. Because God is perfect and holy and we are imperfect and broken (see Romans 3:9-10), there was a huge chasm between us and no matter how hard we tried, we could not bridge it on our own. We were stuck at the edge of our abilities. We had a glimpse of the other side and a longing to be there, but no way within ourselves to make it happen.

We needed a bridge, a way to reconcile and re-connect the relationship.

Then comes Jesus.

It was a crude cross made of two wooden beams that formed the bridge of reconciliation between God and humanity. The Apostle Peter explains,

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.

I Peter 3:18

And here’s the same idea from the Apostle Paul,

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

II Corinthians 5:21

Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, a bridge is available between us and God and there’s no risk of it collapsing underneath us. By God’s grace, there is a way for us to cross over from the isolation of our sin to the other side where there is life at its best. In Jesus, we have the opportunity to be forgiven of all our offenses and for our relationship with God to be restored.

It was Jesus who put it this way,

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

The good news is we’re not stuck on this side after all. God made a way for us to draw near to Himself. He provided the ultimate Bridge through His Son.

You’ve probably heard the old saying, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it“? Well, we’re there. Have you crossed? You can. It won’t break. Jesus would never let you down (see Romans 10:9-11).

If you’re ready to take that step but not sure how to express it, here’s a simple prayer to guide you:

“Dear God, I needed a bridge and you provided one. My sin had me stuck on the wrong side of life but Jesus bridged the gap. I do believe that He is the way, the truth, and the life and today I place my trust in Him as my Savior. God, thank you for loving me at my worst and for never giving up on me. Help me now to grow in faith, hope, and love. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.”

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.