A very sick little boy was stacking lots of Legos on top of each other, making several columns with them, when his dad asked, “What are you building with all the columns?”

The boy replied, “Oh, those aren’t just columns, Dad, they will be a very long bridge when I’m finished. You see, I’ve still got to put the connecting pieces on. My bridge will take people to a new land where they’ve never gone, a land full of everything good, and nothing bad ever happens there. No sickness and pain can cross that bridge because a huge army surrounds the bridge: that land is ruled over by an excellent and wise king who wants everyone to be happy and healthy. There are lots of things I can’t do, but I can build the best bridge ever.”

This story makes me think of you and me because Christians are also called to be bridge-builders. Perhaps we never think of ourselves that way, but we all know that Jesus tells us to be witnesses of Him. Matthew 28:18-20, known as the Great Commission, is probably the most well-known of these commands. In Mark 9:15 we read Jesus’ words, He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Another well-known Scripture is Acts 1:8: just before Jesus ascended to heaven He told the disciples, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Now Jesus is the highway between sinful mankind and our totally righteous and holy God. We have no way to get to God the Father without Jesus. John 14:6 tells us, Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So we see that the only highway that takes us to God is Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection. But you and I must build a bridge to those who do not know Him, so they can get to that wonderful highway of life, Jesus Christ the Savior.

If we are to be at all obedient to our Lord, we know we must tell others about their sin and God’s righteousness, but how do we explain this without turning them off? We can’t say, “You are a sinner and damned to hell,” even though they are. We need a way to explain to them why they are sinners and how to fix that awful condition. I’ve witnessed a stranger we’ll call Bill going into a home and opening his Bible to tell the truth of the Roman road to the homeowner, we’ll call Joe. Bill assumed Joe was an unbeliever because he didn’t attend the Bill’s church. In less than 10 minutes, poor Joe was so offended and disgusted with Bill, he said he was busy and showed Bill to the door. Obviously, Bill’s well-intended visit did no good.

That brings us to the point that first of all we must pray for those we think are unbelievers and then let the Lord show us how to build that bridge between them and our Savior. Often that starts with friendship so they can tell our lives are somehow different and gain interest in what – really Who – makes that difference. Our own testimony of how God has changed our lives and how we relate with a loving Father may be the very topic someone needs to hear so we can build that bridge. So the question is, what will we do? Will we build bridges so others can know the love and peace of the Father? If we don’t already, let’s start asking God to lead us to those who do not know Him as we go through our daily lives. When He leads us to someone, the Holy Spirit will show us how to build the bridge to Jesus.