If you’re going vegetarian, be sure to only eat Christian vegetables, so you know they’re going to heaven.

John Wesley became a vegetarian as a young adult.  He discovered that he no longer got sick after he stopped eating anything with a face, and so he stuck by this diet for the rest of his life.  As he grew in fame, he was accused of being a moral vegetarian, or someone who insists that eating meat is against God’s will.  John assured the Bishop of London that he did not insist or teach this.  He even tried to eat meat again so people wouldn’t look down on him, but his doctor encouraged him to remain vegetarian.

Even though John was a vegetarian primarily for health reasons, he had a very high view of animals in God’s creation.  In his sermon, The General Deliverance (found at this link), John noted many places in scripture where God is merciful over “all his works,” caring for the well-being of the animals.  John taught that animal suffering, including animal predation, is a result of the Fall of humanity, and will not exist in the New Creation.  He taught that a better life awaits the animals in heaven, and therefore we ought to take greater care in how we treat the animals in this life.  Read Romans 8:19-22; Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:25; Psalm 145; and Revelation 5:13-14.  What do you think about animal salvation?  How does that impact how you treat animals in this world?