I wonder how many people will delete this
without reading it because of the title. It is a shame but this message is very
true. Hope you are all as blessed as I was by this
story.
There once
was a man named George Thomas, pastor in a small New England town. One Easter
Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and
set it by the pulpit. Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas
began to speak....
"I was
walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging
this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds,
shivering with cold and
fright.
I stopped
the lad and asked, "What do you have there,
son?"
"Just
some old birds," came the
reply.
"What
are you going to do with them?" I
asked.
"Take
'em home and have fun with 'em," he answered. "I'm gonna tease 'em and pull out
their feathers to make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real good
time."
"But
you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do
then?"
"Oh, I got
some cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll take 'em to
them."
The pastor
was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for those birds,
son?"
"Huh?? !!!
Why, you don't want them birds,
mister.
They're just
plain old field birds. They don't sing. They ain't even
pretty!"
"How
much?" the pastor asked
again.
The boy
sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said,
"$10?"
The pastor
reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy's
hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The pastor picked up the cage and gently
carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot.
Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars
persuaded the birds out, setting them free. Well, that explained the empty bird
cage on the pulpit, and then the pastor began to tell this
story:
One day
Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden
of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. "Yes, sir, I just caught a world full
of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got
'em all!"
"What
are you going to do with them?" Jesus
asked.
Satan
replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce
each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse.
I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm
really gonna have fun!"
"And what
will you do when you are done with them" Jesus
asked?
"Oh, I'll
kill 'em," Satan glared
proudly.
"How much do
you want for them?" Jesus
asked.
"Oh, you
don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you'll take them and they'll
just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you. You don't want those
people!!"
"How much?
He asked again.
Satan looked
at Jesus and sneered, "All your blood, tears and your
life."
Jesus
said, "DONE!" Then He paid the
price.
The pastor
picked up the cage and walked from the
pulpit.
I pray, for
everyone who sends this on, whether to their entire address book or just a few,
that God will bless them in a special
way.
And for
those that just deleted it...and I KNOW there will be a
few....?
WHAT ARE YOU
GOING TO DO?
I thank
God everyday for my blessed life. I'm not rich, don't live in a mansion and
don't have the nicest of material things, but, I have a roof over my head,
clothes on my back, food on my table, a family that loves me and lifelong
friends to get me through. I'd say I have a lot to be thankful
for.
Have you
counted your blessings today?
|
No comments:
Post a Comment