Burned Bridges
John 6:66-68 KJV
(66) From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
(67) Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
(68) Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
As long as there is still another option or another route to take, when the road begins to look rather challenging there will be a tendency for the ‘many’ to beat a retreat to the more understandable, comfortable and predictable. But, will there really be victory there? I’m sure those disciples who went back no longer had to deal with the risky business of following the Messiah who was talking about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. They probably got to return to their old jobs, families and social life, continuing with the ‘security’ of the way things used to be. Somehow their ‘seeking’ had brought them to a place of offense when they found out what Jesus was really about and they could seek no more. They, after all, still had something else to which they could turn.
There is a term, however, that describes the condition of those twelve that remained- they had ‘burned their bridges’. Their pursuit of Jesus had separated them from the rest in that all other routes had been burned behind them. There wasn’t even an option for them other than going forward to the truth they had found in Christ. Like the military strategy of removing any options other than victory, all other routes or alternatives in life had been destroyed. For almost all of them this strategy would lead to martyrdom and what might appear to be the opposite of success in life, but there was an ultimate victory in Christ for them that none of the ‘retreaters’ would ever know. Theirs was a fulfilled purpose and a completed cause in the kingdom that they could never have found back where they had come from.
There is victory for today and definite direction to be taken that will lead to it. Whether or not this victory will ultimately be ours, however, will have everything to do with the burning of other bridges in our lives, whether or not there are still any other options. As long as the greenness of the grass is still looking good somewhere back there across a bridge that is left standing, determination to go forward will be compromised and victory disabled. When, though, there is no longer any other voice that is speaking anything close to the truth coming from the mouth of our Savior, the path to the triumph in His truth will continue to be taken to its glorious end. May another leg in this journey be taken this day with a joyful eye on the prize and no looking back.
