“And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,” (1st Kings 11:9)
A life well spent, until almost the end of it, wisdom beyond any man ever born, save for Christ, yet at the end coerced by subtle deceptions into folly. I am probably mistaken, but I can recall only one reference to King Solomon throughout the entire New Testament, and it had nothing to do with wisdom, but his attire. “And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (Matt. 6:29)
As a short side note, I would ask that you notice that the Lord was speaking there in the first person, He saw that attire.
How much did King Solomon lose, what rewards that had been awaiting him in glory were removed from him because of these great infractions against the Most High God? The Almighty does indeed know that we are but dust, but that does not mean that we can take lightly our service to Him, that we can expect to receive that which we have not earned, that rewards will be waiting for those who do not continue in the work, much less make any attempt to serve well and for His glory alone.
This does not include our salvation of course, Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it quite clear, along with many other verses that it is a free gift from the Lord, but instead it is these actions and deeds that we perform, the words that we speak, even our thoughts that are all done solely out of a love for Him who first loved us.
Works-based religious organizations ensnare the minds of those with little Spiritual discernment of the Scriptures, attempting to make them believe that those works we speak of here are necessary, even a requirement for our salvation, that we must perform not only initially but continuously throughout our lives these actions, deeds, words and thoughts or that salvation will not only be lost, but was never proven as a fact, as a reality in our life. You must, as it is said, toe the line, or all will be lost.
I ask you then, did the life of King Solomon reflect that of one who was chosen by God, one who served with all his heart, save for the last few days, months or years, for that specific amount of time when he strayed far from the path? Yes, it did, so then one must contemplate, what is lost when we stray? Is one who is disobedient rewarded the same as the one who remains obedient, are rewards in heaven stored up and still given to the one who once served and still given even after great sins against the Almighty are done? Or are they removed, yet entrance into the eternal Kingdom of the living God is still granted?
You cannot lose, reject, turn away from or have your salvation taken from you, once you are hid in Christ, that is where you will remain, but the question remains of those rewards, of your treasures in heaven. I speak truth here though, if you are working for those rewards, if you are simply toeing the line because of them, then nothing awaits you, and even your salvation is in question.
