One of our favorite family stories involves the death of our hamster as our teenage daughter and her three-year-old brother cleaned the cage. It died as company was arriving so we quickly grabbed a spoon and buried the little creature under the banana tree by the kitchen. Our son said nothing until two weeks later when our daughter reported that he asked her as they snuggled together in the car, headed on vacation, “Did Jesus die for the hamster’s sins?” He was asking if the hamster was in heaven. Our daughter assured him that Jesus died for people’s sins. Our three-year-old thought and concluded, “I know. Jesus’ hamster died for the hamster’s sins.”
I know the death of beloved pets and what happens to them is a question many people have to develop answers for as they loose a pet or their child’s pet dies. A fellow teacher was convinced her beloved cat had become her guardian angel. The Bible does not say much to shed light but I cannot help but spend a day focusing on these verses from Romans 8 since we are reading here.
“20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:20-21)”
When we read the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, we often focus on their expulsion from the Garden of Eden and not on the curse to the earth because of sin. These verses talk to our physical world being “subjected to futility” not because of its own sin but because it suffered fall out from our sin. Today we talk about global warming as a byproduct of our irresponsible use of natural resources. We think of pollution as a threat to our health. This passage says that creation itself is waiting to be see free from its bondage to decay and will some day experience glory with us.
Let’s take a moment today in the midst of our heat waves, our melting icebergs and rising sea levels to pray that we might be more mindful of being responsible guardians of the world God made for us. Our actions have fallout on the world around us. I wonder what nature will look like when it too experiences glory. Those will be beautiful flowers and gorgeous sunrises! We can certainly be thankful for the devotion of our pets and the beauty of our world. The restored creation is something to look forward to!
On the Way to Wonder 