I'm looking forward to long walks with good friends, shared meals without rushing, and endless laughter at no one's expense.I'm anticipating meaningful work with plenty of time for reading, artistry, writing, and helping my fellow citizens. For occasional entertainment I haven't written off stadiums and ballparks. If my hunch is right, competition between friends will be healthy in heaven. I'm wondering if there might be hockey without fights, soccer without brawls, and football playoffs where losing well is valued as much as winning. There may even be a safe form of boxing and NASCAR.Frivolous speculation? Maybe. Insulting to God? I hope not. I'm trying to imagine a heaven that builds on the good we know while leaving behind the evil.As a child, I feared heaven would be boring. I missed the point of gold streets and pearly gates. As a 10 year old, what I really liked doing most was playing kickball, drawing comics for the family, and riding my bike.In the years that followed, the deaths of family members and friends have changed the way I think about heaven. But I still have questions. What will we do after enjoyng long embraces, tears of laughter, and catching up? My mind still locks up like an overloaded computer when I try to weigh imponderable questions about a hereafter that will last forever.Ironically, what gives me the most peace of mind is not cutting loose my imagination, but rather learning to trust. I find rest in the thought that God doesn't want us to know what He has planned for us. I wouldn't be surprised to hear such a God say something like, "If I told you, I'd have to take you." Or, based on the apostle Paul's experience, "If I told you how good it's going to be, I'd have to make life more difficult for you now."Paul seemed to imply as much when describing what he thought might have been an out-of-body experience. By his own admission, he wasn't sure what happened. But he said he was caught up to Paradise where he heard things he wasn't allowed to talk about (2 Corinthians 12:1-4).I'm convinced that the God who taught Paul to depend on Him one day at a time is now teaching us to rely on Him for an eternity that is beyond our ability to understand.So how much then does He want us to know?NEXT: Heaven in the Jewish Scriptures
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