The Kingdom Light – Episode 1120
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We sure do love our pets, don’t we?! Many of us refer to them as our fur babies, treating them like our own children, and loving them as members of the family. Today’s show is a little different because I wanna address that question that so many of us have pondered – Will we see our pets in heaven?
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While some people might say our topic today is a silly or trivial one, you have to admit that the question has crossed your mind at some point. All of us who have had pets have lost pets. They typically live much shorter lives than we do. In fact, someone once said that we must seem like immortals to our pets. We’re there at the beginning of their lives, all during, and we remain at the end. When pets die, we often mourn for them just like we do anyone else.
The fact is, God made these animals that so many of us bring into our lives and under our roofs. He cares for all His creation, and He certainly cares for these critters that mean so much to us – His children. So then, does He allow them an afterlife as He does us? And is there any biblical basis at all for believing that?
Let’s take a quick trip back to the beginning of creation itself. When God first created life, He began with plants and animals and ended with humans. Everything was perfect. Life was designed to thrive. There was no sickness or disease, so there was no death. Of course, everything changed when sin entered the world. But it’s a fair assumption that God’s original design was for life to continue forever.
Fast-forward to present day. There are now all kinds of sickness and disease, so death is all around us. The curse of sin has corrupted this world, so now things indeed get old and decay and eventually die. But there IS an afterlife. Heaven is waiting for those of us who belong to Jesus and have accepted Him as Lord. Is it really such a stretch to think that heaven is also waiting for those faithful creatures who belong to us?
“That’s just silly,” some might say, “animals aren’t like human beings. They’re just soulless creatures.” Well, I dare you to look into the eyes of my dog and tell me there’s no soul in there. “But there’s nothing in the Bible that supports the idea of animals being in heaven.” Really? I would argue that since animals were a big part of God’s original plan of creation that it’s highly likely that they are also meant to be part of His heavenly kingdom.
Consider the following stories and use all the spiritual discernment God has given you. I’m leaving out the names, but these are stories I recently heard from individuals who were simply sharing their personal testimonies. Just take it in and let God speak to your spirit as to their truthfulness…
First, there was a lady who was praying one night. As she was talking to God and thanking Him for blessings and praising Him, she said to Him, “Lord, I know that when I’m in heaven I’m gonna be praising You continually for eternity. But honestly, it’s only been a few minutes, and I have run out of words. How will I be able to praise You forever?” Then God answered her, “I will continually give you new reasons to be grateful and praise Me.”
What this woman’s story teaches me is that this current life is short, and while there are many reasons thus far to praise God, those reasons do seem to be somewhat finite. We also have many distractions in this world which often prevent us from being able to focus on our blessings. But that won’t be so in the life to come. We will be with God forever, and there will be no worldly distractions at all – nothing to take our eyes off of His love for us.
He will pour out eternal blessing upon us, giving us an infinite number of reasons to praise and worship Him for all eternity. And perhaps – just perhaps, mind you – just a few of those unending reasons will be the pets we cared for while here in this life. I like to think so.
Then finally, one man’s near-death experience seemed to answer the question absolutely for him. When an accident severely destroyed much of his body, he went to heaven and met Jesus. While there, he was shown what would be his home. While some dream of mansions, the perfect home for this man was a lakeside house with lots of land around it. He saw amazing colors and he said the grass and trees all seemed to give off a musical tone that, when heard all together, sounded like a beautiful symphony.
As he stood there in heaven on what was to become his forever homestead, a number of animals ran up to meet him. He was astonished when he realized that these were all pets he’d once had. There was a horse, a couple of dogs, and a cat that all hurried to where he was standing – all anxious to greet him. What’s more, he was able to communicate with them. They didn’t speak to him in a human tongue, but there was a language they used that he was able to understand, and this made him very happy.
Now you can take all this with a grain of salt, as it were, but I’m just telling you what I have personally concluded from all of this. Some may dismiss it as wishful thinking, but I do believe there is sufficient reason to believe that we will indeed see our pets in heaven. And I’ve found absolutely nothing to indicate that we won’t.
In the end, there are only two possible answers to the question: Either our pets won’t be there, and we’ll have too many wonderful blessings to miss them – OR, they’ll definitely be there as part of the many blessings of heaven. Frankly, I choose to believe the latter. But suit yourself.
What I think we can all agree on is that, here in this life, our pets are a blessing. We can learn a lot from them. I mean, they often worship at our feet – much how we’re supposed to be toward our Master. They illustrate to us the concepts of loyalty and unconditional love, and they do it far better than most humans. So in that respect, I think they even deserve an afterlife. Don’t you?
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