I thought this would be a good story to share with you.
b>The
Birdcage...
A man was on the side of
the road with a large birdcage. A boy noticed
that the cage was full
of birds of many kinds.
"Where did you get those birds?" he asked.
"Oh, all over the place,"
the man replied. "I lure them with crumbs, I
pretend I'm their friend
then when they are close, I net them and shove
the into my cage."
"And what are you going to do with them now?"
The man grinned, "I'm going
to prod them with sticks, and get them
really mad so they fight
and kill each other. Those that survive, I
will kill. None
will escape."
The boy looked steadily
at the man. What made him do such things? He
looked into the cruel,
hard eyes. Then he looked at the birds,
defenseless, without hope.
"Can I buy those birds?"
the boy asked. The man hid a smile, aware that
he could be on to a good
thing if he played his cards right.
"Well," he said hesitantly,
"the cage is pretty expensive, and I spent a
lot of time collecting
these birds, I'll tell you what I'll do, I'll let
you have the lot, birds,
cage and all for ten dollars and that jacket
you're wearing."
The boy paused, ten dollars
was all he had, and the jacket was new and
very special, in fact
it was his prized possession. Slowly, he took out
the ten dollars and handed
it over, then even more slowly he took off
his jacket, gave it one
last look then handed that over too. And then
(well, you've guessed
it) he opened the door and let the birds go free.
Moral Of The Story...
The Enemy of the world,
Satan, was on the side of life's road with a
very large cage.
The man coming towards him noticed that it was crammed
full of people of every
kind, young, old, from every race and nation.
"Where did you get these people?" the man asked.
"Oh, from all over the
world," Satan replied. "I lure them with drink,
drugs, lust, lies, anger,
hate, love of money and all manner of things.
I pretend I'm their friend,
out to give them a good time, then when I've
hooked them, into the
cage they go."
"And what are you going to do with them now?" asked the man.
Satan grinned. "I'm going
to prod them, provoke them, get them to hate
and destroy each other;
I'll stir up racial hatred, defiance of law and
order; I'll make people
bored, lonely, dissatisfied, confused and
restless. It's easy.
People will always listen to what I offer them
and (what's better) blame
God for the outcome!"
"And then what?" the man
asked. "Those who do not destroy themselves, I
will destroy. None
will escape me."
The man stepped forward.
"Can I buy these people from you?" he asked.
Satan snarled, "Yes, but
it will cost you your life." So Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, paid for
your release, your freedom from Satan's trap,
with His own life, on
the cross at Calvary. The door is open, and
anyone, whom Satan has deceived
and caged, can be set free.
