Do All Dogs Go To Heaven?

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Posted by Katie

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My puppy is sick. My “puppy” is 11 years old. I'm no fool, I know the typical lifespan of dogs. But in some strange way I still find it a challenge to conceive of the day when he is no longer by my side. And yet, there will be such a day. After a visit to the vet this morning, it turns out that day may come much sooner than I thought. It was a hard day.

Now, let me ask you something. If I cognitively understand the lifespan of canines, and can anticipate such a thing, then why am I not prepared for it? I’m sure we could come up with lots of reasons for that. Topping the list would be my favorite river, “Denial”. Death is a part of life, right? But that’s not a deep enough river for me.

What if the reason we struggle through the pain of grief so much is because we were not originally created for it? Perhaps our aversion to this sort of change is due to the presence of something divinely permanent – a sense of eternity within each of us. We were originally created in the image of Him who always was, always is and always will be. The Alpha and Omega. Him who doesn’t change but whose entire presence is eternal.

We were not created to die. We were created to live.

I believe remnants of this original design still linger within us. And I have a theory that these remnants are a Grace. Incomplete by their very description, it is the remnants of eternity, my friends, which remind us that we need to be restored. The echo of our original design drives us back to the Designer and makes us hunger for that single most breath-taking change in history…Resurrection.

Alleluia.

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”– 1 Peter 5:10


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