Welcome to 2018! I am pumped about the possibilities this year affords us all. The opportunities are endless because our mission and message are timeless.The mission and message 2,000 years ago, as John the Baptist built a highway for the physical arrival of Jesus Christ, are the same today for the arrival of His Spirit in revival. That should provide assurance that what we are investing so much of our lives into, is really a staple in the ways of God.There were many issues begging to be addressed in John’s day. The tyranny of Rome, slavery, crime, prison reform, infanticide, religious repression, civil rights violations—these were all matters to which he might have devoted his efforts.But John did not allow himself to become distracted from the mission for which God had placed him on earth. His mission was clearly defined—to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.John would have been familiar with the ancient oriental custom of sending workmen ahead of a traveling monarch to clear away debris and smooth out the roads so his journey would not be impeded.King Jesus was coming to earth. Advance preparations must be made. A highway must be prepared in the hearts of men.No competing activity or priority, no matter how important, was permitted to keep this single-focused man from fulfilling his mission.How easy it is to become diluted in our efforts to serve Christ—to lose sight of our mandate from God and to become caught up in a myriad of lesser callings.The man God uses as an instrument of revival is a man who knows his mission and cannot be diverted from it.What if you could only make one resolution for 2018? What would it be?Why not make it a simple commitment to “hear from God”? Hear the voice of God before being a voice for God?There are numerous people I work with who have elected to fast during the month of January. Why not ask God what you (and I) can remove from our lives that would facilitate hearing more readily from the Lord?It may be food, or it may be social media or some other barrier to all God wants to say to us. After all, is there anything more important this next year than knowing you are hearing from God? And then speaking for Him?