WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

 Her name was Esther. She was a beautiful woman in appearance, but she had heart of stone. She was idle and shameless. Jacob had loved her for years, but she was unfaithful. Finally he left her because Esther refused to make any commitment to Jacob.

But now Jacob was courting Christina. She was a sweet and lovely girl. She was the absolute opposite of Esther. She was all a man could hope for in a girl. Jacob found her to be real.

One day, after having courted her for almost a year, he decided he would try to really make a big impression on her. The following Tuesday would be Esther’s birthday, so he chose that day to propose to Christina. He called Christina and told her that he would pick her up at 7:00 P.M. on Tuesday evening, and that she should expect great things that evening.

On Monday the gifts started arriving for Christina. He sent her a lovely evening dress, some beautiful flowers, a box of pastries, and a beautiful necklace. He requested that she wear the dress and the necklace for the evening out.

At 7:00 P.M. sharp Jacob pulled up before Christina’s house in a large chauffeur driven limousine. Christina was shocked. He opened her door and invited her into the luxurious automobile. He kissed her cheek and told her that she looked lovely. She blushed and thanked him. Jacob said, "I hope you liked the dress and necklace. It is just like the one Esther used to wear." Christina blinked. She knew this was his old fiancee’s birthday.

Christina turned to him, "The flowers you sent me were pretty. I never had anyone send me lilies before."

"Those were Esther’s favorite," Jacob said, "as well as the hot cross bun pastries. I figured if she liked them, you would like them too." Again Christina blinked.

"This limousine is nice, too," she said, trying to make small talk.

"Oh, yes" Jacob said, "Sam, that’s the driver, used to pick up Esther and me in it every year on this day. She just loved it. I figured you would like it, too."

By this time they were pulling into the entrance of a large, beautiful garden with a swanky looking restaurant. The valet came out and opened the door. "Evening, Mr. Jacob, good to see you again," he said cheerfully.

"Hi, Rod," Jacob said, "This is Christina. Christina, this is

Rod. He is the valet here. He always watched out for Esther and I." Christina began to feel a knot in her stomach.

The doorman was in a tuxedo, and made Christina think of a butler in a movie. "Horace, how are you?" Jacob asked warmly. "I haven’t run into you since the last time Esther and I were here."

The old doorman smiled and nodded, and pointed Christina to the receptionist.

The receptionist was an attractive, middleaged lady who warmly greeted Jacob. "Any preference tonight, Jacob?" she asked.

"Yes, Madge, seat us in that little romantic cove where Esther and I always sat." Again Christina felt an urge to get sick.

Once seated, a waiter approached. "Excuse me," said Jacob kindly, "but may we request Shirley as our waitress tonight?"

"Certainly," the girl said in a bewildered voice. He explained to Christina that Shirley had always been Esther’s favorite waitress.

When Shirley came to the table, Jacob smiled in his charming way and said, "Hello, Shirley. We do not need menus tonight. Just give us the special order of hare under glass, with those special little colored eggs on the side, like Esther always ordered." With that, Shirley returned to the kitchen.

Jacob’s eyes caught the bandleader’s eye. "Hi, Merv," he shouted across to the orchestra leader. "Play my old favorite you always played for Esther and me." He smiled at Christina and said, "Esther loved that song called ‘Yesterday’ and Merv would always play it several times a night when we were here."

Christina marveled at Jacob. As far as she was concerned, the orchestra could play "Roll Out The Barrels." Any good thoughts about this man had vanished. He was a jerk. "Are you having fun, Christina?" Jacob asked. She did not know if she should laugh or cry. Tears came into her eyes. She had hoped that he was different.

Suddenly Jacob asked, "Did you ever consider getting your hair cut short?"

"No, why?" she asked, knowing the answer before he gave it.

"Well, I like short hair on a girl. Here, let me show you a picture of Esther. That’s the girl I used to be engaged to for years. Did I ever tell you about her?" Christina felt another wave of nausea. Then immediately after that, without wavering, he reached into his pocket and said, "I have a surprise for you, Christina. I would like to ask you a serious question."

"Here it comes," she thought. She knew he was going to ask her hand in marriage. Sure enough, he took out a little blue box and opened it up and said, "Christina, will you marry me. It would make me very happy." Christina looked, and she saw a huge diamond ring. It was Esther’s old engagement ring beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Christina was flabbergasted. The nerve of the man! The stupidity of the man! He was not only without class, but he didn’t have a clue to just how stupid he really was. Tears stung her eyes and she excused herself from the table. Jacob, in misunderstanding her tears, assumed that the answer was "Yes." He thought he had really impressed her. He had impressed her alright. He impressed her as an egotistical "cad" who thought she would like whatever he or someone else had ever done to court a girl.

Christina made a decision and quickly wrote a note to Jacob and folded it. She slipped out the door, after giving Madge the note to give to Jacob. The note said.

Jacob received the note. He read it and was perplexed. The orchestra started a tune that seemed out of place in such a fine restaurant. "You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog." "What does this mean?" he thought. "Is she saying that I am a hound dog? I spent $400.00 on the evening and she walks out on me. What is the matter with her. Esther would have loved it."

Nathan said to David: "Thou art the man." Are you the man? Are you like Jacob? Listen to the Word of God.

Exodus 23:24, "Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images."

Leviticus 18:2-5, "2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. 3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. 4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I [am] the LORD your God. 5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I [am] the LORD."

Numbers 33:51-52, "51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; 52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:"

Deuteronomy 7:25-26, "25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold [that is] on them, nor take [it] unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it [is] an abomination to the LORD thy God. 26 Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: [but] thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it [is] a cursed thing."

Deuteronomy 12:1-4, "1 These [are] the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. 2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, upon the hills, and under every green tree. 3 Ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. 4 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God."

Deuteronomy 12:29-32, "29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; 30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. 32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."

Joshus 23:7, "That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear [by them], neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:"

The consensus of Scripture is that God does not want done in His honor what was done in honor of other gods. God is a jealous God. He does not want us to absorb the traditions, customs, and the holidays of heathenism into our adoration of Him. Paul asks the Corinthians. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He is? In other words, we need to be very careful not to stir up His wrath.

Do you not believe that God has reason to be as offended with us as Christina was with Jacob? Shall the Israel of today bring into the houses that have been set aside to learn of the true God, the colored eggs and the lilies of the moon goddess Easter or Ashtoreth? What do these things have to do with His Son’s resurrection? Did He tolerate the Israel of old, in her making of cakes to the queen of Heaven? Does He want the customs of the ancient fire god Odin or Woden, who supposedly came down the chimney to place fruits and nuts in the stockings of good children and ashes for the bad children, to be a commemoration of His Son’s birth?

What must God think of mankind sticking the name of a moon goddess of fornication on the alleged anniversary of His Son's resurrection. Why is Easter on a moveable date? Since Jesus died on Passover, why is His resurrection sometimes observed the month before Passover? The moon determines Easter. Why? Because it is based upon when the moon is full that year. Easter before Passover!!! Resurrection before death!!! How it must grieve the heart of God to see the calendar of false gods and goddesses determine the sacred and holy times that His own Church observes.

Friends, the customs of Easter, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Lent, and Ash Wednesday were mostly copied from the worship of other gods. Biblical principle forbids this. Read the Bible principles above. The principle is: "Do not do in God’s honor what was done in worship to other gods." If you would not treat a woman you loved like Jacob did Christina, why do you treat the God of Heaven that way? God is not to be treated like a dog that can just be thrown any old bone. God is God. He is holy. To celebrate the true God by the leftover trappings of false gods is trite and anything but holy and sacred. You may think it makes Him happy. I suspect it does not. Don’t be a "cad" with God. I asked you in the beginning of the article "What you would do." What are you going to do?