A Painful Lesson

One of the greatest lessons of my life was learned last week.
I warn you that the following text is heavy and sad, but it can be of great value to anyone seeking to understand his teaching.
A dog, a greyhound-poodle mix, who came to our home more than 13 years ago with completely black fur, which earned him the name "Negão" (Big Black), by which he learned to respond to us, went through one of the greatest physical pains, and for me, this caused emotional and especially spiritual pain, but it was one of the most valuable lessons.

I won't hide the fact that he had a difficult temperament—speaking in the past tense, some will surely already be able to guess what happened…—and he was quite aggressive, only getting along with us: when, in 2016, my daughter Débora came to live with us, for about six months she had to keep going in and out of the house through the window because he didn't like her!
It was a real problem getting used to her, but then he became as docile with her as he already was with me and my wife.

SUFFERING

On Tuesday morning he seemed normal, playing, jumping and skipping, with absolutely no apparent symptoms of illness. However, in the late afternoon, when I saw him again, I noticed that he was making a tremendous effort, even groaning and whimpering, to defecate and — worst of all — there were splashes of blood wherever he went.
Looking closer, the shock came: his rectum was covered in red lumps that, together, were about the size of a tennis ball!
I immediately went to the veterinary hospital near my house with Débora.

During our pet's examination, a tumor was found that turned out to be cancerous — this was immediately apparent because a benign tumor doesn't spread to other organs… and his had started in the testicle and spread to the intestine.
As if that wasn't terrible enough, this tumor was also attacked by a type of myiasis, popularly known as "maggot infestation": the larvae had grown directly in the tumor and, by devouring it, were removing its outer covering, helping to spread cancerous cells throughout the body.
Even his intestines were severely affected…

The next three days were filled with sleepless nights, waking up to administer the medication at the right time, washing the affected area… nothing helped. In fact, as you can see in the photo — this, incidentally, is the only record we have of him, as we could never have imagined that he would leave us in such a cruel and sudden way — we had to put a cone on him to prevent him from licking the area.
He would spend the nights tossing and turning, desperately trying to scratch himself, and every groan we heard was like a stab in our hearts.

We took Negão to another hospital, where he was prescribed medication to prevent him from feeling pain.
When my daughter went to buy him and I stayed in the car with him, something curious happened: it seemed like he wanted to enjoy the last moments he would have with me and he would come to my lap, lay his head on my chest and, touching my hand with his paw, put his head under it, asking for affection.

FAREWELL

Yesterday, around 7 pm, something happened that showed there was really no turning back: nothing would stay in his stomach anymore, neither food nor medicine. He would eat, take his medicine, and vomit in less than 5 minutes.
He vomited twice more throughout the night and was passing veritable pools of blood—the size of the palm of my hand—where it was already possible to see pieces of his intestine and tumors, and he continued to struggle.
I spent the whole night awake, taking care of him and washing the yard.
That morning, as a family, we made the difficult decision to let our little friend go, because his suffering was excruciating and there was no point in prolonging it, as it would lead nowhere.

And so Débora and I went to the hospital, knowing that we wouldn't be returning home with our beloved pet of so long, while my wife stayed at home in tears, calling us to help determine what would be best with the veterinarian.
The hardest part was that, according to hospital policy, in cases of euthanasia, a family member needs to be present as a witness that the pet was not mistreated. Obviously, Débora, who could barely hold back her tears, couldn't do that, so I became the one in charge of this painful task.
And so went the roughly ten minutes holding our friend, petting him to calm him down, while the veterinarian administered the anesthesia that made him fall asleep in about ten seconds. I stroked his face as he lost consciousness, looking me in the eyes serenely, as if he were both saying goodbye and thanking me for all the time he spent with us.
Next came the administration of potassium chloride, which causes cardiac arrest and, in approximately one minute… my little friend was gone from this world forever.

THE LESSON

Now I am able to understand the lesson that God wanted to teach me during those four painful days: to comprehend the extent to which sin has disgraced God's creation!
During my time as a pastor, I had already gone through such experiences with members of the congregation—including my own father, who also lost his battle with cancer—but people don't always show their true suffering: often they hide what they are actually feeling, perhaps even with the good intention of avoiding the suffering of those around them.

A pet, however, doesn't hide its pain and discomfort: for four days I heard my friend whine, groan, throw himself against the walls… and only calm down when he was so exhausted that he simply passed out from sleep, waking up only to continue enduring this torment.
As I said before, the medication wouldn't stay in his stomach anymore, so he didn't get a single moment of relief.
Realizing that he was getting weaker and weaker each time I opened the backyard door to check on him made me witness this repeatedly and awakened me, clearly and shockingly, to how horrible this thing called "sin" is.

By disobeying God, Adam and Eve condemned not only themselves, but all of us and, collectively, all those whom God placed under the dominion of the human race: the condemnation to death not only determines the end of life as we know it—and this can happen in a horribly painful way, as it did with my now dearly missed four-legged friend—but, if we compare it to what each of us truly deserves for sin, earthly death, however horrible and torturous it may be, is only a "free sample"!
Far worse things don't happen to us only because God is who He is, a being of unimaginable mercy, as Jeremiah acknowledges amidst the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem:

The Lord's goodness is the reason we are not consumed, for his mercies never end.

(Lamentations 3:22 – KJA)

Sin is such a horrible thing that everything I've seen my furry friend go through in these 4 days is just a small glimpse of its gravity.
I can now imagine, in a more intense way (and even then it doesn't come close to what it really was), what Jesus felt when all that mass of rot, disgust, and repugnance was thrown upon him on the cross… and then seeing the Father turn his back on him after doing so, so that all the punishment for that disgusting thing would fall upon him!

God showed me, in a very clear way, what sin is—that which we so often ignore and, on many occasions, even take pleasure in committing, because it pleases our fallen nature—and, obviously inspired by the Holy Spirit, this impelled me to fight against my sin with greater fervor.
After this painful experience, which will be indelibly etched in my heart, I implore the Lord to give me strength to fight against this rot that I carry within me.

REDEMPTION

It's not about "fear of hell," because I know that Jesus already paid the price and delivered me from it.
What I want is to please even more the one who died and rose again for me, because, as never before, I have been able to see what sin is and what it causes… and this makes me want even more now to… sanctification, ...and my longing for the New Jerusalem has grown even greater!

As for my little friend, his body was kept in the hospital freezer and cremated the next day.
Do I think I'll see him again?
I don't think so, I'm sure of it (and I'm not saying this based on a feeling, but on the Bible).
I find absurd this idea that many are touting today, that animals have no soul and that in the New Jerusalem, besides God, there are only glorified celestial human beings and angels, because the Bible states:

Because creation was subjected to futility,
not of their own free will, but because of the will of the one who subjected them,
in the hope that created nature itself will also be freed from the captivity of degeneration in which it finds itself,
receiving the glorious freedom granted to the children of God.

(Romans 8:20-21 – KJA)

To be quite frank: how can one say that animals will not live again in eternity without acknowledging in this a victory of the devil over God?
Yes, that's right, because it means that the devil would have managed to corrupt a part of God's creation to such an extent that God would no longer be able to redeem and restore it!
If the sin was committed by humankind and condemned the animals (who did not sin) in the same way as Adam and Eve, how could the redemption through Christ, which saves humankind, not also redeem the animals?
May Negão wait for me in heaven, for soon we will see each other again and celebrate our reunion together with the Savior… it’s not a question of “if,” but only of “when.”.

I cried, and yes, I cried a lot reading Pydd's account because he said goodbye to Negão in almost the same way I had to say goodbye to Peteka, the Yorkshire Terrier who helped me overcome depression and lived with me for an impressive 18 years.
She was my friend, and I can't deny that she had a strong personality, so I'll take this opportunity to also pay a heartfelt tribute... but what really touched me was the interpretation of Romans presented here, as it raises a possibility that I hadn't considered about the fact that I might one day meet her again.
Thank you, Pydd!

Are two sparrows not sold for a penny?
And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's consent.

(Matthew 10:29 – ARA)

Will we meet our little animals in heaven or not? Will there be a rapture or not?
There are many debates that are absolutely non-essential to salvation, but which have been used by some not only to cause strife, slander, and intrigue, but, worse than that, to allow the creation of new divisive doctrines and the founding of more and more ecclesiastical enterprises that have nothing to do with the true Body of Christ.
This is just another one. indication That the end times are rapidly unfolding, and before the Lord returns like a thief in the night, the prophesied reign of the Antichrist must be consolidated not only in Brazil, but throughout the world!
Since 2023 I decided to use new formats for The Worst Gospel, hoping to help increase the reach of content related to the Scriptures — stories, videos, shorter texts, guest authors… — and this publication, which I took the liberty of revising and illustrating, is part of that project.
Thank you for reading this far.
I still need all the help I can get: comments, shares, and reactions help spread this content, which was entirely produced with the intention of contributing to the edification of the Body of Christ in the world.