Psalm 32: 8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”  You may have made some New Year’s resolutions for 2018.  It doesn’t matter if you did or did not.  The most important question, resolution or decision is, “Who will lead your life in 2018?”  Over the years that I have written the Leadership Challenges, I have intentionally made the application that every man has five areas of leadership for which he is held accountable:  personal, family, work, church and community.  Who leads you will determine how you will lead in each of these areas as you walk through the days of 2018.  No one of these areas is lived as an island unto itself and all five are interconnected each day.  The One who leads us and how we lead in each of these walks of life should all be same.  Our Scripture to begin the new year provides a promise we must claim and live out each day.

Our Scripture is an “I will,” verse and promise from God.  To instruct, teach and counsel are all interwoven into God’s leadership in our lives.  Together, they mean leadership God’s way: (Instruct=the act of imparting authoritative direction, Teach=to impart knowledge and give instruction and Counsel=to give advice in order to direct the conduct of a person with a deliberate purpose, plan and design.  The bottom line is really a promise, “the way in which you should go and my eye will be upon you.”  Yes, the year 2018 will be filled with a mixed bag of blessings and challenges; that is life itself and opportunities for our spiritual growth and maturity.  God’s Word and the Holy Spirit will walk with us every step of the way but we must be open to listen and obey as we hear Him speaking to us.  Isaiah 30: 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it.”  Rather than just making this a New Year’s Resolution for 2018, make it your personal commitment of obedience in 2018.  Those whom God has given you to lead will clearly see Who is leading you!  Are you listening and walking in the way He is leading?