Even a Dog

Posted On May 10, 2005

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. – Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV.The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9 NKJV.

It is a story that is receiving worldwide notice, a story about a dog saving a baby in Kenya. The baby was abandoned in a plastic bag. The dog found the baby and dragged it across a busy road, through a barbwire fence, and into a shed where the stray dog had its home. Children heard the baby crying and found the baby next to the stray dog along with the dog’s own puppy. The baby is being treated for exposure and for an umbilical cord infection. The stray dog is also being cared for; however, her puppy has died.

Even a dog recognized the value of human life, a life that some human being abandoned to die alone. It happens more frequently in some countries than others because of poverty, but the abandonment of babies is a worldwide tragedy. Even here in the state I live in there is at least one case and sometimes more of a baby being abandoned every year. New laws to allow mothers to leave their newborn babies at hospitals without prosecution for abandonment is a step forward.

It is hard for me to understand how anyone could ever leave a baby to die, whether in an African forest or an American dumpster. Perhaps it is a lack of understanding about the value of life itself? Or, more likely the unbelief in God? To believe in God is to believe in the value of life, the sanctity of life.

God created human beings differently than other animals. We can become very attached to and love our pets very much, but the value of human life is on a higher level than that of animals and other creatures. However, God does value all life, and you can see this in various passages of the Bible. One of my favorite is in the book of Jonah where God says, “And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left–and much LIVESTOCK (Jonah 4:11)?” Human beings are different from other creatures because we were created in the image of God.

The subject of the value of human life should not be discussed without also discussing the value of a human soul. Not only is every human life of great value and importance to God, but their eternal soul and destination is also of vital importance to God. God was very much concerned about all those people in Nineveh even though they were evil people. Make no mistake; God is concerned about every human being, regardless. It is His will that ALL should come to repentance and it is not God’s will that ANY should perish eternally.

Most of us would never abandon a baby, but are we like Jonah more than willing to abandon others whom we may not feel are worthy of God’s grace?

(The eternal value of life.)