For Those With Ears to Hear

We’ve all wondered it.
Especially after saying goodbye.
Especially after holding their paw or scratching behind their ears one last time.
Especially when the silence in the house hits harder than we thought it would.

Do all dogs go to heaven?

The Bible doesn’t give a full breakdown of what happens to pets when they die.
There’s no verse that says, “Yea, thy golden retriever shall lie beside the River of Life, wagging his tail for eternity.”
Nor one that says, “Thy tabby shall nap in the sunbeams of paradise.”
But that doesn’t mean we don’t have hope.

Let’s think biblically. And tenderly.

God created animals.
He called them “good.”

“And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds… and God saw that it was good.”
— Genesis 1:25

They were part of the original creation.
Not an accident. Not background props. Part of the joy.

Animals were in Eden.
Animals will be in the new heaven and new earth too.

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat…”
— Isaiah 11:6

Does that prove your labradoodle or your grumpy old tabby is in glory right now?
No.
But it shows that God loves His creation, and animals are included in the restoration story.

But here’s the deeper truth.
If God is good, and He is, then you can trust Him with what you love.

You can trust that nothing beautiful is truly lost in Christ.
And that the same God who knit that four-legged friend together…
…who saw every tail wag, every happy bark, every soft purr, every curled-up nap by your side…

He cares.

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.”
— Luke 12:6

If He doesn’t forget a sparrow,
He won’t forget the golden retriever that comforted you through a breakup,
or the rescue cat that learned to trust again on your windowsill,
or the pit bull that laid beside your sickbed,
or the moody little feline that somehow knew when you were sad and sat with you anyway.

Will your exact pet be there in heaven?
We don’t know for sure.
But we know this.

Heaven will not be lacking anything you need to be fully and forever joyful.
And the God who gives good gifts will not withhold one from you.

“In Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
— Psalm 16:11

So maybe one day…
you’ll hear the familiar sound of paws on heavenly streets.
A tail thumping.
Or maybe just a faint purr.
A soft meow from somewhere nearby.
A presence you never forgot, and somehow always knew you’d see again.

And if that happens,
you won’t be surprised.

You’ll just say, “Of course He would.”

Because that’s what kind of God He is.