Today, I will have to take one of our family dogs to the vet to stay overnight and have surgery in the morning. When I think about asking for prayer requests it reminded me of several church members over the course of my ministry that seemed embarrassed or apologized for asking for prayers for their family pet. I don't think that you should ever apologize for wanting prayers for a member of your family, even if they have four feet and fur (or even feathers or scales.)
Our pets are God's creatures, created with care and love. They bring love and joy to our homes, which I think are two of God's greatest gifts. They love and trust us unconditionally, even when we don't always deserve it. We could learn to be better people and better Christians if we could love and trust like our pets.
So why are some people embarrassed or afraid to pray for their four footed family members? I think my college Sunday School teacher gave me one example (a bad example in my opinion.) I don't remember what brought the topic up, but our teacher made the statement,"You won't see your dog in heaven, because animals don't go to heaven. They don't have souls." First off, I believe strongly that he was wrong and so did the rest of the class. We argued with him for the whole hour. His main argument was that in the creation story God only breathed life into humans, that gave us a soul... That is not what that says. God's breath gave us life. The soul is not mentioned there at all. In fact the Bible doesn't say one way or another whether animals have a soul. The only thing it says in the creation story is that when God made them, God said that they were good.
OK, so NOWHERE in the Bible does it say either way that my dogs will or will not be in heaven. That doesn't mean that they won't. It means that we haven't been up there to see for ourselves.
So, here is some things that I think about when I consider the furry members of my family who have passed on. In the End, God will be giving us a new heaven and a new earth. That IS in the Bible. God will be recreating things like they were before sin. There were animals in the garden in the beginning, so why wouldn't they be in the kingdom in the end. In fact it says that the lamb will lie down with the lion, and a child will play safely over the adder's den. Yes, I know that this is metaphor, not literal, but it does mention animals being in the kingdom. Many of the Psalms also talk about ALL of creation praising God. Is God going to just ignore that praise?
My second thought is what a waste it would be. God spent a lot of effort creating all the wonderful variety of life that we find here on earth. So, are we just going to assume that in the end God is just going to toss out 99.9% of creation and just keep, what, us and the angels. That would be kind of a boring way for God to spend the rest of eternity don't you think? This is also my argument for life on other planets, but that is a discussion for another day.
So, I believe that these loving, trusting, beautiful creations of our God will be there in heaven. Heaven is supposed to be a place of light, love, joy, and praise. To me it would be so much more joyful with out kitties winding about our ankles, our dogs faithfully by our sides, and while I am at it, the dolphins happily frolicking and squeaking their praise.
Please pray for Snoopy and his surgery tomorrow (Nov. 27). And while you are at it remember to pray for your friends who have lost a four footed family member. Don't be ashamed to pray for the pets that you love, because love comes from God!
Blessings
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