Please don't get me wrong, I love animals. I have always had a pet. Growing up, we had numerous dogs, and after I married we have had two cocker spaniels, two parakeets, three rabbits, and currently we have a cat, so please do not think I do not like animals, but animals are not humans, and their lives should never be placed above a human being's. After all, humans were made in the image of God. Animals were not.
I am so weary of waking up most mornings and turning on the news and hearing about a child that has been killed either by his/her parents, has been in a horrific accident, or has been discarded like a piece of trash. Where is the outrage about these incidents?
Recently there was more outrage and outpouring over a dog that was set fire and eventually died, than over the numerous children who have died at the hands of someone who was supposed to love and take care them. We live in a sick world. I do not believe any of God's creatures should be mistreated, but when there is more outrage over an animal than a child, then we are a society that has lost its way. Have we become so desensitized that the life of a child has become so trivial? When are we as a culture going to stand up and say, "Enough is enough"?
In Jesus' sermon on the mount, in Matthew 6, he is talking about worry, but he asks, "Are you not more valuable than they" (birds of the air)? Human life should be valued and respected. In this year of OYTL, I want to make a difference in my culture and world. That may mean speaking out boldly against the atrocities of this world. After all, when Jesus confronted those using the temple as a market place, He did it with boldness and righteous indignation. Maybe it's time we who profess to follow Him, start doing the same.
Blessings,
