A rusty Birdcage A cold little Boy

                       A RUSTY BIRD CAGE

A few years ago there lived in a small village a religious man named Said.  One afternoon he approached the public place of the village carrying a rusty, bent old bird cage and put it down.

Several eyebrows were raised as Said 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 you got 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 give 'em to them."

Said 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?" Said asked again.  The boy sized up the older man as if he were crazy and said, "$10?" Said 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.

Then he 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. Then he began to tell this story.

One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the world and he was gloating and boasting.

"Yes, sir, I just caught the 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, smoke use drugs... fall  into all kinds of perversions and turn away from everything that is good. 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 get 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 love 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?" Jesus asked again.

Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "Your life and all your blood."

Jesus said, "DONE!" And He paid the price…

 COLD LITTLE BOY

A  little boy was selling newspapers on the corner of a busy street.  The little boy was so  cold that he wasn't trying to sell many papers.  He walked up to a policeman and said, "Mister, you wouldn't  happen to know where a poor boy could find a warm place to  sleep tonight, would you?   You see, I sleep in a box around the corner and it’s awful cold in there for tonight.   Sure would be nice to have a warm place to stay." 

 The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, "You go down the street to that big white house and you knock on the  door. When they come out the door you just say  ‘John  3:16’,  and they will let you in." 

So he did. He walked up the steps and knocked on the door, and a lady answered. He looked up and said, "John  3:16".    The lady said, "Come on in, Son."  She took him  in and she sat him down in a split bottom rocker in front of  a great big old fireplace, and she went off.  The boy  sat there for a while and thought to himself:  “John 3:16 ...I don't understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm.” 

 Later she came back and asked him, "Are you hungry?"   He said, "Well, just a little. I haven't eaten in a couple of days, and I guess I could stand a little bit of food."  The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table full of wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn't eat any more. Then he thought to himself:  “John  3:16 ... Boy, I sure don't understand it but it sure makes a hungry boy full.”

She  took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled  with warm water, and he sat there and soaked for a while.   As he soaked, he thought to himself:  John  3:16...   I sure don't understand it, but it sure makes a dirty  boy clean.  You know, I've not had a bath, a real bath,  in my whole life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood  in front of that big old fire hydrant as they flushed it out.”

The lady came in and got him. She took him to a room, tucked him into a big old feather bed, pulled the covers up around his neck, kissed him goodnight and turned  out the lights.  As he lay in the darkness and looked out the window at the snow coming down on that cold night, he thought to himself: “John  3:16 ... I  don't understand it but it sure makes a tired boy rested.” 

The next morning the lady came back up and took him down again  to that same big table full of food.  After he ate, she took him back to that same big old split bottom rocker  in front of the fireplace and  picked up a big old Bible.  She sat down in front of him and looked into his young face.   "Do you understand John 3:16?" she asked gently. He replied, "No, Ma'am, I don't. The first time I ever heard it was last night when the policeman told  me to use it."  

She opened the Bible to John  3:16  and began to explain to him about Jesus.  

Right there, in front of that big old fireplace, he gave his heart and life to Jesus.  He sat there and thought: “John  3:16 … I don't understand it, but it sure makes a lost boy feel  safe.”

 You  know, I have to confess I don't understand  either how  God was willing to send His Son to die for me, and  how  Jesus  would agree to do such a thing. I don't understand the agony of the Father and every angel in heaven as they  watched Jesus  suffer and die. I don't understand the intense love for ME that kept Jesus on the cross till the end.  I don't understand it, but  it sure does make life worth living.

 

John  3:16:  For  God  so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that  whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have  everlasting life.