Pets in Heaven?

Oct. 14, 2013 Monday Message:

We’ve been answering the top 10 questions about Christianity/heaven, and #7 is: “Do our pets go to heaven?” And a related question: “Are there animals in heaven?”

Several years ago, on the Friday before Father’s Day, my family asked me to sit down, and then placed a living, breathing creature onto my lap: love wrapped in yellow fur. It’s the best Father’s Day present I ever received. We made a special bed for the baby Labrador that night, but she cried and cried, so I got out of bed and held her, and in the process became her best friend for life.

She was never far from us – not underfoot, in an obnoxious way – but rather, nearby, so she’d always know where we were. She was just like a member of our family.

At her best in the water, the kids wanted to name her “Rio,” which means “river,” but that’s odd because Rio is a masculine word in Spanish and she was a female dog; but the name stuck. You could toss a ball into the water 100 times, and she’d still beg to go again. Turns out that labs have skin between their toes, like webbed feet, and she could out-swim any of us.

My daughter Melissa taught Rio to climb ladders, which came in handy for climbing out of the deep end of a pool. We’d walk to the park, and Rio would climb the ladder and go down the slide, to the amazement of many children!

Rio lived a good life and grew quite old. She had reached a point where she could barely walk and was in a lot of pain, so a few months ago it was time to say goodbye. For me, the hardest part was knowing that this really was the end. Animals aren’t spirit-beings; they don’t have souls.

When we get to heaven, the Bible says that we’ll have everything we need; so if we need a pet, one will be provided. The Bible also mentions animals, lots of animals. Lions, and calves, and leopards and bears and eagles, and 16 times horses are mentioned, including Jesus riding on a white horse. These animals will be a walking display of the creative genius of the Almighty God.  And all these animals will live in perfect harmony – Isaiah 11:6 The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the goat – perfect harmony, like it was in the Garden of Eden, the way God always intended it to be.

Perhaps you’ve heard people say, “This earth is not my home.” Well, heaven’s not necessarily your home either – it’s temporary. After the events of the end times, the current heaven and earth will be leveled, and God will give us the New Heaven and the New Earth. And the eternal dwelling place for believers will be the New Earth. Yes, the New Earth is where we’ll spend eternity, with pearly gates, streets of gold, and the city of New Jerusalem. We will dwell here with glorified, restored bodies. The concept that Heaven is in the clouds is unbiblical, as is the idea that we’ll be wispy spirits floating around in heaven. The New Earth will be the perfect planet for us, free from sin, evil, sickness, disease, suffering and death. That’s what the Bible says.

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday at 10:30am in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This Sunday, Oct. 20, we get a glimpse inside heaven as the Rich Man checks out Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31. Don’t miss it!

NL