In a small town in Georgia, a man met a little
boy with a cage of birds in his hand. He said,
"Son, what you have there?" He said, "I have
a cage full of wild birds". The man said, "well
what are you gonna do with them, son?" He
said, "oh, I'm just gonna take them and I'm
gonna play with them, and I'm gonna tease
them, and I'm gonna taken them in the
woods and kill every one of them".
The man's heart was touched with
compassion. He said, "What you
take for them, son?"
"Mister, they ain't no good."
"I didn't ask you that. I asked you
what would you take for them?"
"Mister, they just a cage of wild birds."
"What's your price, son?"
And the little boy thought he'd
make a killing.
He said, "Alright, mister. If you
want them then the price is high.
They're gonna cost you a dollar a
piece."
The man said, "You got a deal."
So he paid it and carried the birds
on the outskirts of town on a little
hill. And he opened the door to the
cage and said, "Little birdies, I
paid the price. You're free." But
the birds had been in the cage
so long, and the door was wide
open. They wouldn't come out.
So he took his hand and put it in
the cage. And the birds would
fly on his hand and he would
bring them to safety. And he'd
hold them up and say, "Little
birdies, you're free because I paid the price."
Picture with me nearly
2000 years ago, Satan met
Jesus. And Jesus asked
Satan, "Satan, what do you
have there?"
Satan said, "I got a world
full of sinners."
"What you gonna do
with them?"
"Oh, I'm just gonna
play with them, I'm gonna
tease them, fill them full
of the world, and I'm gonna kill them."
Jesus' heart was touched
with love and compassion.
"What you take for them, Satan?"
He said, "Oh, they ain't
no good. You got a lot
of liars, adulterers, people
that's perverted, whore
mongorers. They no good, I tell ya. "
"What's your price?"
He said, "Alright. If you
want them then the
price is gonna be high. It's
gonna take your sweat, it's
gonna take you giving up
your omnipresence. It's
gonna take your very life."
"You made a deal, Satan."
Nearly 2000 years ago,
He took his cross on the
outskirts of Jerusalem
on a hill called Mount
Calvary. He said to you
and to me,
"I paid the price. I was
wounded in my head
for your evil thoughts.
Wounded in my hands
for your evil touch.
Wounded in my feet for
your evil walk. Wounded
in my side for that
inordinate affection
toward lust. Bled in my
mouth for your evil talk."
He says to you
and to me, "I paid the price."