I had to put my dog down today. Man… Was I a mess? YES! I don’t think I cried this much in the several funerals I’ve been to in recent years, combined. Maybe this is because most of the people I’ve seen laid to rest were believers and I didn’t have to wonder much about where I’d see them again. I don’t know.
I know many people claim pets go to Heaven, but I’m not sure that’s actually Biblical. I’m having a hard time finding anything definitive one way or the other. Sure, there are bits of scripture that indicate one thing or another, but I can’t seem to locate a specific answer to this question. …And since I couldn’t find it, clearly, I didn’t have much choice in how I explained it to my children.
Kids… I just don’t know for sure from what I can read the answer to the question of whether dogs go to Heaven. But here is what I do know. God made everything here for a reason. And it would be hard for me to imagine a world without a good companion dog. We’ve enjoyed dogs in our home and work and their loving-kindness is a gift from the Lord in how he made them. Let’s not dwell on where they are or aren’t, but trust Him and thank Him for what we enjoyed. That’s the best I think we can do with the limited knowledge we have.
Today hasn’t been much fun. But it did give me an opportunity to search the Word and look for something I should probably have considered long before now. I’m doing pretty well, overall. But I think it’s the little things that will bother me the most. Each time I leave the shop I whistle for Recon to join me as I’m shutting off the lights. He comes running at 30mph out of the darkness and off we go. I’ve done that three times already, and as you guessed, no 120lb meat missile came thundering out of the darkness. I’ll get used to him being gone. But not too soon I hope.
Thank you, Lord, for good dogs and their calming influence. I’m glad you made them.