Your Evening Coffee 10/29/2024

Good evening!

Welcome to your evening coffee! May our Heavenly Father help us to be mindful of what He has given us. Certainly, the people we have been given the opportunity to love are of the utmost importance in our daily lives. But Father, help us as well to show our maturity and care with the things you have given us. In the name of Jesus, help us to take good care of the things you've given us. For though they are now ours, they will always and more so belong to God. Amen.

Your Evening Song: "Who Am I?" by Needtobreathe

Your Evening Scripture: Proverbs 12:10

Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,

but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

...

Animals are not people. They do not deserve the same level of love and care that people do.

And yet... What do they deserve? What does God have to say about animals?

Reading Genesis chapter one we can see that God created all animals. No creature of any kind exists that was not made by Him. All belong to Him.

And with that understanding, this proverb has a certain wink and a nod essence to it. Whatever my beast may be, pet or livestock, they most certainly are not more mine than they are God's. And whatever other creatures I may encounter that are wild, they are not mine at all, only God's.

So how are we to treat animals? Wild or owned? With regard.

With regard? What does that mean? As so often happens in scripture, we often do not talk in our daily life in the same way the Bible is written. And that's actually quite healthy for us, if we are sincere in our Bible reading. We must stop and ask ourselves if we really understand what we're reading.

So, what does "regard" in this verse mean?

If I have regard for the life of my creature, I am mindful of its needs. I provide food. I provide shelter. I provide safety. Depending on the creature I also do my best not to stress the animal unnecessarily.

I do not treat any animal with the love and I that I would a person.

I do treat animals gently and with care, because they all belong to God. And God Himself says here in this proverb, that if I want to be righteous, I will behave this way.

Do I eat meat and think it is okay to kill animals for meat? Of course. But when killing an animal is necessary, it can be done well, or it can be done poorly. Even with insects I've taught my own kids that if an insect is where it doesn't belong (ex. in our house), kill it. But if an insect is where it belongs (ex. outside), then don't kill it, because God made it.

We return again to the very, very practical, helpful principle of God's ownership of all things deeply influencing our behaviors and attitudes towards His created persons, places, and things. Our ownership will also be less than His. Our ownership will never excuse cruelty or neglect.

We have been given many wonderful things, creatures included. And how we take care of what we have been given will reveal our attitude towards God who gives all things.

Are we cruel and neglectful?

Or perhaps we've bought into the lunacy of treating animals like people?

May we be known as people who care well for what God has given us. Not neglecting the care for such things, and not worshipping such things in themselves. But having a mindful, wise regard for what we have. No matter what it might be.