Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Solomon is one of the most pathetic figures in the whole Bible. He was given great intelligence, but he used it on a strictly human, material plane. With no proof of life after death, he discarded the possibility, and so had no defense when the devil’s twisted logic told him to commit idolatry to placate his foreign wives. I am reminded of Shusaku Endo, the Japanese Christian author who believed in Jesus but couldn’t bring himself to believe in resurrection, of Jesus or anyone else. As a result, life on this earth became the highest good to him. He wrote of Japanese martyrs, but the “heros” of his books were those who denied Christ in order to spare other people suffering. There is no hope, no true joy, in that! Those who are truly blessed are they who fix the eyes of their hearts on eternity, on the God who loved them before creation, brought them into being, and will continue to love them after everything material is gone. Yesterday I listened to the testimony of a Canadian man who had been very successful, both in business and in the LGBTQ community. He thought he had it all together, until he had a near-death experience. (NDE) In it, he encountered Jesus, who didn’t accuse him, but just showed him the truth of the life he had been living, and he also was aware of people he had known and admired in the LGBTQ community who had already died. It wasn’t a vision of flames and such, but of the utter devastation of eternal separation from God. He was also aware of the inexpressible sorrow of Jesus, that these people would have made the choices they did. After seven and a half minutes of clinical death, he revived, and began the at times very painful process of renouncing the LGBTQ lifestyle, including his “spouse.” He lost a great deal, both in finances (since he quit his company) and in friends, but he gained genuine friends, as well as peace and joy that he hadn’t imagined before. If only Solomon had experienced such a transformation! When we let the things of this world blind us to the reality that this world is strictly temporary, we lose the infinitely greater riches and blessings God has prepared for us in eternity.

I have long been aware that the LGBTQ lie is just one of many the devil uses to snare people. We have a family friend I care about a great deal who has recently lost his “husband.” He believes in Jesus and is active in church, but I pray God’s mercy on him. In contrast, I have other friends, that the wife is dying of lung cancer, but they have peace and anticipation of the future God has prepared for them. For myself, I enjoy life and rejoice in many aspects of it, but I have no fear of the transition to the next life, because I know that it is infinitely better! There are many, many people I want to take with me into that life, when the time comes, so I seek to express God’s truth to them, for them to repent and believe for their salvation. I can’t force anyone to do that, but I can make the truth available to them, and that is a joy and satisfaction I could have no other way.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for bringing that testimony up on my computer yesterday. I’ve heard many NDE testimonies, including that of my own wife, but not many that resulted in such a dramatic lifestyle change. Thank You for Your mercy on us all. May I fulfill all of Your purposes for me, for as long as You keep me here, for the blessing and salvation of many, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!