Do our pets go to heaven?

Many people wonder if their pets will enter into heaven, or if they will be able to see them again after they pass.

I'm here to show through biblical scripture that their departure from the earth now doesn't mean it has to be a permanent departure from you.

I will be citing many bible verses below to show that pets will undoubtedly be included in heaven, and will further have a presence in the restored earth.

Are our pets innocent?

Lets begin by establishing why pets go to heaven in one word - Innocence

Our pets are innocent of sin. While they may understand right and wrong as we teach them the do's and don'ts, and the yes and no's, they don't have an understanding of right and wrong. This concept is similar to Adam and Eve in the garden of eden prior to them eating the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Prior to their consumption of the fruit, they were innocent of sin. They understood what God told them was right (obey His commands and steer from the fruit), and wrong (do not disobey and eat of the fruit), but they didn't understand the concept of sin, or good and evil, until after they consumed the fruit. As scripture tells us, animals never ate of the fruit, but man was given dominion over them, and thus became a part of the punishment of man's sin.

Do the innocent enter heaven?

Deuteronomy 1:39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

This verse is about the children of Israel entering into the promised land after their pilgrimage out of Egypt. But it is a clear indication of the bible calling the little ones without the knowledge of good and evil. Even a book in the old testament as early as the 5th book tells us the children are innocent.

2 Samuel 12:22-23 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

David was as the bible calls him "a man after God's own heart". God held David in high regard, and yet, in this verse, we see perhaps one of the harshest punishments meeted out against David for his sin. We also see the strongest recognition in the old testament that children are not punished prior to their knowledge of good and evil. The child was born, but passed after a week of David fasting and praying. David conceived this child with a woman whose husband he had intentionally to sent off to die so that he could marry her. God saw David's deed here though, and knew David's heart, so God took the child from David. The child was sent to paradise, according to the end of the verse, where it awaited David's eventual arrival.

Isaiah 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

Peace will reign in God's kingdom. Within that kingdom, the bible paints us a picture of a child leading a lion and a calf. In this verse, a child is shown to be present in God's kingdom.

These are just 3 strong verses in support of innocents entering heaven in the old testament. The new testament has more still.

Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Here, Jesus is telling the disciples to allow the little children to come near him, because they are a representation of Christ's Kingdom. We have established above through the old testament that children are innocent, and now we look at the words straight out of Jesus' mouth that His kingdom is filled with innocence.

Mark 10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

This verse reinforces that innocence is the expectation of those who will enter God's kingdom.

Matthew 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

This verse is a reflection of just how much God cares about the innocent children. He cares so much that their angels have direct access to the Father.

There are still more verses that support God's love of the innocents, and their position in heaven, but I think its been made clear with all of these verses that the innocents will be in heaven with the Lord, and that we can look forward to meeting our family members who have gone before us.

Evidence of animals in heaven

Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

Predator and prey alike will enjoy each others company, and they will dine on things grown of the earth.

Romans 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

All creatures will no longer be in corruption. Our bodies will all be perfected and free of disease.

Revelation 5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

Every creature, in heaven and beyond will praise the Lord. Heaven will include animals, and its reasonable to assert that because our God is just, loving, and merciful, that our furry family members will number among those who praise the Lord.

Psalm 36:6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.

Man and beast is preserved. They are saved. They were innocent to begin with, and suffer only because man sinned in the garden of eden. Just as a newborn baby that passes is innocent and ends up in the arms of the Lord, so do innocent animals, as they are innocent through their whole lives.

Luke 3:6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Not just some flesh, but all flesh. All will be present to witness God. All flesh is all encompassing, and includes our furry friends. You can rest assured they are patiently waiting to see us again.

There are many more verses in the Bible that indicate God's love and care for animals, and their presence in heaven and eternity.

God's love for animals

Matthew 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Job 12:9-10 Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

There are many verses indicating God's love for animals. I've picked out three to highlight. In Matthew, the words spoken come directly from Jesus Himself, and He declares how God cares for the animals and feeds them. Proverbs says its it righteous for a man to be concerned over the life of his beast (or pet in the case we are talking about). Finally we have Job, which mentions that every living thing has a soul, and that would of course include our precious pets. I have underlined and bolded those particular parts about every living thing having a soul, as I've unfortunately seen too many sources claim that animals don't have souls and we can't know their eternal destination.

God's love for us

1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Romans 8:16-17 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

There are even more verses showing God's love for us than there are for animals, and considering Jesus said we are more important than animals in Matthew 6:26 above, it makes sense there would be more. In 1 John and Romans 5, the verses show how God loves us so much that He sent His son, the heir to the throne, Jesus, to pay the price for our sins. Romans establishes even further that God loves us so much, that we are given over to be adopted children of God, and thereby, joint-heirs with Jesus. God loves us so much, that He would bring us directly into His family. Now, for anyone still having doubts about their pets in heaven, I would like to add something; there isn't scripture to back up what I'm about to say, but its based around the nature of God as He is described to us in the bible: I believe that God loves us so much, that He would not deny our request to ensure that our innocent furry family members would be present with us.

Your pets will not remember you if you are not in heaven with them

Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

I have put these two verses together to emphasize for those that may be on the fence about believing and following Jesus, as a matter of urgency. We don't know when it will be our time to pass on, but when it is, we should desire our eternal security within the Lord and in His presence. Our pets are precious, and because we love them, we would not want them to forget the time they spent growing with and loving us. But the verses above say that the things of the past, the previous heavens and earth, won't be remembered. Among the previous heavens and earth will be the time we spent here, which means that those who are in heaven with God won't recall the bad here (and because eternity is so long, perhaps those in heaven will forget everything that took place here altogether). Revelation 21:4 says there will be no more sorrow or crying, specifically because the former things are gone. I don't think its wrong to interpret those verses to say that in the new heavens and new earth, God will give a mercy upon those who have chosen to love Him by making sure those who are in heaven won't have memories of the former things, so that they won't be sad over never seeing the ones who are not with Him. It also says in Isaiah 65:17 "nor come into mind", which suggests the likelihood that our time will be occupied with something else, or may just be such an extensive amount of time (it is eternity after all, where our lifespans here are equivalent to a vapor that appears briefly and vanishes James 4:14), which would stop us from even considering the things of the past.

The big point here is that, for the love of your furry family members, you wouldn't want them to forget you. They will be in heaven because they are innocent, and I'm sure that your pets will rejoice the moment they see you cross the threshold into heaven. If you go forward following the scripture in the Bible, and live your life for Christ, you can rest in certainty that your eternal future is secure, and you will see your beloved pet again. One day we will depart this earth, and we will rejoice as we meet our savior, and those who departed before us. I personally believe our pets will be waiting by His side to greet us as we stand before God in heaven, and our beloved pets will be rejoicing that their best friend has returned to them.

What can you do?

Your furry family members are innocent and will be in heaven, and they will be patiently awaiting your arrival. Their lifespans are shorter than ours, so departing from them is something we will eventually have to go through. Losing them is so very hard, but the good news is our departure doesn't have to be permanent. You can trust in the Word of God and be certain you will see them once more by believing in Jesus.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ephesians 2:8-9  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

There are so many more verses that indicate that the way to God and heaven is through faith in Jesus. Works won't get you to heaven. It's a free gift given by God's love for us. We can choose to join Him in eternity and be with God as well as our beloved pets. That choice is ours to make. They will be there for certain, but we have the responsibility of choice. If you want to be sure you'll see your furry family members again, then the choice is clear. Have faith in Jesus. That's what we are called to do.

If you want to be certain you will see your pet again once they are gone from our presence on earth, you can make the choice to join them in heaven when your time comes. There is only one way to heaven, and that is through faith in Jesus and acceptance of the grace He offers us. Jesus sacrificed himself and paved a path towards eternity because He loves us. He died for our sins so that we can be spared the permanent separation from Him. Being in Heaven with Jesus will be a greater experience than anything before on this earth.

Can you imagine their little tails wagging in joy as we walk up to the Lord of Glory, with them knowing they get to spend the rest of forever with us?

Can you imagine the sounds of excitement and glee that will come out of their mouths as we are once again able to hold and pet and play with them?

If it is your desire to be with Jesus, and to spend forever with your furry friends, we have written a prayer of faith below that you can speak out loud, or in your heart if you want to accept the gift God has prepared for us. As long as you are honest and earnest in your request, you can be certain God will hear you, and that your separation will be temporary. You can make the choice today to follow Jesus, to accept His forgiveness, and to ensure you will see your beloved little friends again. Heaven is a grand place. Our God is a loving God. He wants us to be happy, and we surely will be together with Him.

The Prayer

You can choose today to receive the free gift of eternal life by praying to God along these lines "Father in heaven, I know I am a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness of my sins. I want to be cleansed of my uncleanness by the redeeming blood of Jesus. I want to join you in eternity with the rest of our family in Christ. I believe that Jesus died on the cross, and rose again 3 days later as payment for our sin. Please guide my life going forward, until the day we depart this earth to be with you, and forever after. Thank you Lord. Glory to you forever and always. Amen."

YOUR PETS WILL REJOICE

You can go forward following the scripture in the Bible, and live your life for Christ. One day we will depart this earth, and we will rejoice as we meet our savior, and those who departed before us. I personally believe our pets will be waiting by His side as we stand before God in heaven, and our beloved pets will be rejoicing that their best friend has returned to them.