The unknown has a magical quality, doesn’t it? That is why we travel to see far-off places where the culture is very different from ours. That is why we read novels, learn new languages, fall in love with strangers.

I remember learning before my first trip to India how important it is to immerse yourself in the culture right away while everything is novel and fresh and you see it for the first time. This is the time to bond with your new country – to almost fall in love with it. If you ease into the new life by surrounding yourself with foreigners, your old habits, your old way of thinking, you remain separate from your new culture and never get to love it or its people.

When you adopt a new hobby – say you start running – it is best to immerse yourself in it. Get into a running group, read about it, talk to others about it. Don’t overdo it or you will get hurt, but be regular. I remember how in love I was with running when I started in 2003. I ran a race almost every weekend.

I still remember my very first marathon which was the Winelands marathon near Stellenbosch in South Africa. Towards the end I suffered badly, but the euphoria of finishing it, kept me hooked. If you start learning a new language, a new musical instrument, a new discipline, a new programming language, throw yourself into it. Be in love with it.

Being in love or passionate, is what we need to carry us through the initial temptations to give up. It is hard to adjust to a new person in your life, to learn a new language or to master a new sport or hobby, but it can be done. I think that initial passion is what we need to get us into the habit that will ultimately bear fruit.

As for our love for something new, did you know that the Bible indicates that we will ultimately get to live on the New Earth? Everything will be made new: Revelations 21:5: And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” …including our bodies: 1 Corinthians 15:42-43 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

Currently we do not see this newness, glory and power. Everything is decaying around us, including our bodies. What was once new, a new TV, a new relationship, a new skill, has to be constantly maintained and even then gets old. If we are not careful, we will fall out of love and all will be lost.

But in the end it will all be made new. I don’t think we can come close to understanding what the New Earth will be like. We don’t have anything here on earth to compare with the beauty, love, peace, and joy we will experience there if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord here on earth. I believe there will be colours that we cannot imagine here, there will be experiences which will blow our minds.

Yet, this is not for everyone. If someone rejects God and His Son that came as a redeeming sacrifice for our sins here on earth, their choice will be honoured in the afterlife. If someone doesn’t want to be with Him here, that choice will become permanent, as all signs of God’s presence, goodness and light will be removed in the afterlife.

We don’t know what that will be like, because even while we rebel against God here, he does not remove all his blessings immediately. He is patient, never forcing, but always inviting everyone to Himself. But, that ends when we die.

Let me get back to passion. Jesus told a story about a man who by chance discovered a treasure in a field that had immense value. The man then goes and sells all his possessions, everything he had, and buys that field. Doesn’t that make sense? Jesus said that citizenship of the Kingdom of Heaven (His Kingdom since He is the King of Kings) is worth giving up everything else.

That longing we have for something new, something unknown, something wonderful and worthy of our passion and devotion, is a longing that God himself placed in us. It is a longing for Him and the wonderful, heavenly things He has planned for us. We already see some of it when we get lost in a good love story or we gaze through the mist at the beauty of the mountains, or when we see a selfless act of kindness.

And that place will never get old. Nothing there will decay, rust or be stolen. Nothing there will cause tears except for tears of joy. That will be the end of all disappointments, failure and rejection. We will be fully what God made us to be, 100% ourselves.