Imagine…Heaven

Imagine…This is the theme for 2026.  Imagination is a powerful mental exercise.  I am not talking about dreaming things that you want to be true but can never be.  I am not talking about fantasy.  I am talking about imagining things that have been revealed, but not fully. 
Paul told Timothy, “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” (I Timothy 4:15).  “Meditate” is from a Greek word that can also be translated “imagine.”  Paul wanted Timothy to “imagine” more in-depth the things about which he had already informed him.  They were things about which God had not fully revealed every detail.

This year we are going to meditate, imagine more fully those things that God has not revealed as fully as we might want Him to do.  We are going to imagine more deeply about heaven, hell, life, death, submission, leadership, relationships, faith, service, struggle, teamwork, and godliness.

This week let us imagine heaven.  Here are some things we know.  Our citizenship is there (Philippians 3:20).  Jesus is preparing that place where our citizenship resides and to which he will bring us (John 14:1-4).  We should be sending treasures ahead to that place (Matthew 6:19-20).  But, there are so many more things that I would like to know about that place.
Paul wrote, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (I Corinthians 2:9).  Even Paul seems to say that there is more he would like to have known about heaven.  There surely is so much more than what has been revealed!

What more would you like to know about heaven?  Maybe you have imagined what your body will look like in that place.  Maybe you have imagined the place where you will “live” in heaven.  What about imagining whether and how much we know each other when we are there?

I have tried to imagine how long eternity is.  I remember sitting on the side of my bed as a kid and thinking the word forever, over and over.  It was not long until my head started spinning.  We cannot wrap our minds around this concept.  All we can know is that heaven is the last “place” we will ever be!

What God wants us to do is to imagine how wonderful heaven will be!  Human language is not sufficient to describe that place fully.  Therefore, let us follow Paul’s advice to Timothy and “meditate” or “imagine” what that place will be as an incentive to doing whatever we need to do to get there.

— Mike Johnson