HE PAID THE PRICE FOR OUR FREEDOM

There once was a man named George Thomas, a pastor in a small New England town. One Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying an old bird cage & set it by the pulpit. Several eyebrows were raised & 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 & fear.

I stopped the boy & asked, “What you got there son?”

"Just some old birds," came the reply.

"What are you going to do with them?" I asked.

"Take them home & have fun with them," he answered. "I'm gonna tease'em & 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?"

"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 these birds, Mister. They're just plain old field birds. They don't sing - they aren't even pretty!"

"How much?" the pastor asked again.

The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy & said, "$10?"

The pastor reached in his pocket & 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 & gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree & a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door & by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free.

Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit & then the pastor began to tell this story...

One day Satan & God were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was boasting. "Yes, sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. Set a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!"

“What are you going to do with them?" God asked.

Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to divorce each other, how to hate & abuse each other, how to drink & smoke & curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns & bombs & kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"

"And what will you do when you get done with them?" God asked.

"Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly.

"How much do you want for them?" God asked.

"Oh, you don't want those people. They aren't good. Why, you'll take them & they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you & kill you!! You don't want those people!"

"How much?" He asked again. Satan looked at God & sneered, "All your tears & all your blood."

God said, "DONE!" Then He paid the price.

The pastor picked up the cage & left the pulpit.

- (aksermonillustrations.blogspot.com)

Heb 2:3 (CEV): “So if we refuse this great way of being saved, how can we hope to escape?”

“No sacrifice should be too great for Him who gave Himself for us.” -  Harry Ironside.