THINK TOGETHER.
Do you love animals? How do you treat them?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 12:10. Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
When God made people he told them to have dominion over the whole earth, including all the animals. We are supposed to rule over creation as God’s representatives. What does that mean? Well, Solomon says that it means being kind to animals.
Today’s proverb says that the righteous person has regard for the life of his beast. The word regard means to know. Wise people pay attention to what their animals need. They love and take care of their pets. But wicked people are cruel to animals, even the animals they own. Why? Because they only care about themselves and see themselves as God, instead of seeing themselves as God’s servant who is supposed to take care of God’s creation.
Do you have any pets, or own any animals? Do you take good care of them? I hope so. How we treat animals reveals a lot about our character and our trust in God.
When we love and treat animals well today, it is a picture of what life will be like when Jesus comes again to earth someday to restore all creation to the way it was in the Garden of Eden. The prophet Isaiah says that when Jesus returns lions will be as tame as cows, and wolves and lambs will play together. All the beasts will be ours to love and take care of for Jesus our king.
Because of Jesus all of creation will be restored to its original peace and beauty.
With Jesus we can practice loving God’s creation now when we love our animals.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
If you can, make a trip to a local zoo. Or, watch zoo videos on YouTube. Talk about what it will be like when all the animals are tame. Which animals will you want to take care of on Jesus’ new earth?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, thank you for creating animals and thank you for letting us take care of them for you. Help me to love all of your creation the way you love me. Amen.
TLICfamily 