Does God care about animals?

Does God care about animals? Yes.

 

Yes, they are His creations. It may seem silly, but I pray for my pets, especially when they're hurt or sick.

 

God created animals, and I'm sure He cares about them as His creation, the bible say He feeds the sparrows. But He also gave them to man as food, they should not be abused while preparing them for consumption though, they should be treated with respect as God's creation.

 

I don't think praying for pets is the lest bit silly. I used to before I had Tiny. My little bitty dog I ahd for years and then he got sick, constant siezures and brain damage. Firt I prayed he'd be ok, then I prayed God would take him quick, like now, but I didn't want him to ahve to be alone I wanted him to die in my arms and I asked God for that. The we had to take him in the midle of the night to the vet to be put to sleep, I prayed God would take him before then. As she was injecting him, before the medicine could work he died in my arms. God was good. I didn't to be responsable for his death by putting him to sleep and God let him die so I would have to know i had killed him.
ok, thats all I cna say.

 

Think about how loyal pets are...Even the worst of abusers finds loyalty, though they don't deserve it...

We can have a bad day and we find compassion from our pets.
We can speak angrily over something petty, yet receive humble obedience.
We feel lonely and the pet is perceptive and willing to be our best friend.

Pets have quite a bit of patience, compassion, endurance AND we receive unconditional love from the animals we call pets.

God cares for them and about them.

 

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I have been working, off and on, on a sermon using the loyalty of our pets as an illustration of how I think God would have us see our relationship to Him.
No matter what comes our way from the hand of God, we should be just as trusting of Him as our pets are of us.
Now THAT will preach! (I think! )

There are some bugs yet to be worked out, but the germ of an idea is there. And I think it can be illustrated quite well using Scriptural references.

I also have prayed for my pets. One cat had to have her leg amputated. She was just a baby at the time. One of our dogs had to have knee surgery. Another dog had pnemonia. And yet another dog, we adopted because he was abused.
God has answered all our prayers for our pets, and now all are alive, healthy, happy, and VERY loyal!

A person who abuses animals, ANY animal, ought to be punished severely to the full extent of the law. Unfortunately, animal cruelty gets more press that the abuse of unborn infants. But that is a subject of another thread.

I think God truly does hear our prayers for our animals, and is pleased when we show compassion and do something to stop abuse.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

Jim, the dog we have now was abused by a previous owner. We think prehaps they had children, he has some thngs that look like a child might be responsable. Like how he sits up on his butt and not like dogs do, but like a child holding a small pet will sit them up. He was so shy when we got him, didn't want to be loved on or played with. His coat was amess of someone tring to cut his hair, covered with fleas. Poor baby, he came to us right after Tiny died, 2 weeks later and my son brought him home(was supose to be his dog, now he's mine), and at first I didn't want anything to do with him becasue I had just lost Tiny and didn't want more pets. But how can you resist a little dogso sweet and needing so much love. Well I certainly got him out of that, he not only allows loving but enjoys it and now will initates it. And plays too.

 

Our little guy, (Hershey) was so timid that he trembled at the slightest provocation. Slowly, he is coming out of that, but he was left alone and neglected so much in his short life that he has MAJOR anxiety anytime we have to go somewhere that we cannot take him.
The folks we got him from were about to take him to the pound to be destroyed because they "could not" housebreak him. Nevermind the fact that they ignored him, so he would "go" anywhere he pleased. After replacing three carpets, they gave up on him. Rather than destroy a PEDIGREED Miniature Dachshund, we adopted him. And I must say, after MUCH prayer, patience and love, Hershey is a model little dog.
Now, instead of timid, he THINKS he is a Great Dane. You ought to see him go after the postman! LOL It is a riot to see a #10 dog think he can take on anything that moves! LOL
It is so great that you have "loved" your little guy into being just a happy feller.
Anyway, back to the OP. I see nothing wrong and everything right with praying for our animals, and I do think God cares for them. Otherwise, WHY would He place us here to "have dominion" over them. Could it be God EXPECTS us to care for the animals?
Although I am NOT a PETA freak, I also do not think we ought to exploit the animal "kingdom" either. Balance is the right thing to do. Eat 'em! But don't abuse them! Does that make sense? Kinda clunky way to say it, but I hope ya'll get the idea.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

I have to admit. I'm a golden retriever fanatic. When my first one (Magic) was seriously sick I half jokingly asked my pastor to say a prayer for her. (Actually, he knew me well enough to know that I wasn't joking.) He said he might have to think about it but he knew I loved Magic about as much as any human and he would say a prayer for her. She died of cancer at age 11 and it took me months to get over it. Finally, I realized that the only answer was to get another one. That's when little Jessie came along. I used to think that people who paid a lot of attention to their pets were a little off but now I guess I've joined them. Until (or maybe if) a good christian woman comes along my Jess is definately this man's best friend.

 

(Joking)
Sometimes a good dog is better than a woman. They RARELY tell you how to drive!

LOL

In HIS service;
Jim

 

Hey! Them's fightin words!
Are you asking for someone to do some serious finger shaking in your direction?

I'll have you know, I'm a LICENSED back seat driver.

 

One of my Mini Doxies likes to ride on my lap with her paws on the wheel, so I will retract my statement.

(She does drive better than my wife though! )

As long as you are LICENSED then it's ok I guess.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

I've got a standard red longhaired dachsuhund named CrackerJack.
He goes after the neighborhood Rotwieller and the Rotwieller backs off.

There is a big dog inside of all Doxie's.
They do take a bit of extra patience when training them to do their stuff outdoors though.

My weekday Bible study groups tolerates my refusal to pray for pets.
It's not that God doesn't care or listen, but I've got so much otherstuff to pray for they are waaaay down on my list.

Rob

 

While treating animals with a degree of respect, I DO try to keep it in proper perspective and not value any animal above any PERSON. I DO hunt & eat meat.

In Scripture, Jacob admonishes two of his sons for maiming oxen, but it's also replete with examples of mass sacrifice of oxen to the Lord. I would say they were slain in a fairly humane manner.

We see in nature that animals are more cruel to each other than any person could be without really using some imagination. While many people now see the orca as a people-friendly creature, they've forgotten their original name...KILLER whale. They eat larger whales alive. While I was in the NAV, some Japanese fishermen told us they saw a pod of orcas kill a blue whale by repeatedly breaching & landing upon their vic, as well as by biting chunks out of it. Several of these same orcas later sauntered up to the Japanese's boat, as they had remained to fish the area, knowing all the blood would attract many fish. Those Japanese considered the orcas GOOD LUCK.

The big dog I had until its death at age 18 was extremely playful with people, kids & grownups alike. However, we NEVER lost sight of the fact that it was an animal, with an animal nature. One day, that dog, which I had on a leash, grabbed a Scottie, which was barking at us through a chain link fence, by its head & nearly tore it in half by pulling it through the fence. That cost me $150 to replace that dog. Also, the first cat it ever saw, walked up & hissed in the dog's face. It lived only another two seconds.

To me, ONE human being is worth more than all the animals in existence. Jesus did NOT die for my dog.

 

Jesus didn't have to die to reconcile your dog to Him. Your dog is not a sinner.