I recently witnessed a very moving act of kindness.
Having completed my appointment at the local VA clinic, I was walking toward my truck when I spotted a young female deer limping her way across the parking lot (deer in parking lots are not all that uncommon here in beautiful Brookings, Oregon; they even love the beach!). She seemed oblivious to my presence even though I was talking softly to her from only about 50 feet away.
Off to my left I noticed an older, grizzled, shabbily-dressed man walking toward the young doe. The look on his face was one of deep compassion and concern for this wounded creature of God. What took place then was simply breathtaking: He gently walked right up to her, put his arms around her neck, then began to slowly walk her up the street.
I cupped my hands and spoke to him, saying, “Is that your deer?” He softly responded back, “No, but I think she was clipped by a car back there” (probably meaning the nearby Fred Meyer store). “I’m taking her to the shelter,” he said, “to see if they can help her.” Indeed, Brookings has a wonderful little animal shelter, staffed by compassionate, caring folks standing by for just such an opportunity!
As I pondered these moving-moments, I recalled the many verses of Scripture that speak of caring and kindness toward animals — 61+ verses in fact! The first one that came to mind is Proverbs 12:10: “The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.”
As one commentator puts it, godly, kind-hearted people will have regard for the life and the care of their animals, whether they are pets or livestock (or in cases like the one I’m presenting here, wildlife in general). Personally, I’ve noticed timeand-again that animal “rescuers” are also often kind and gentle with people.
So the proverb is true: Whoever has regard for their animals, or any animals for that matter, is righteous — that is they are doing what is right in God’s sight. While acts of kindness will not get us into heaven (faith in Christ alone takes us there!) — such acts, at times, reveal the true character of someone who has heaven in their heart.