Less than an hour's drive from my home in Richmond, Virginia is one of America's most historic and easily recognizable homes. Reach into your pocket, pull out a nickel, and you will see a picture of this beautiful domed mansion. It's Monticello, a monument to the genius of one of America's greatest minds. Thomas Jefferson was not only the author of The Declaration of Independence, the architect of the Louisiana Purchase which almost doubled the size of our nation with the stroke of a pen, and the President of the Untied States, but he was also a creative genius with an insatiable, curious mind. His quest for learning and knowledge are reflected in every corner of this beautiful building. Everywhere you look, there are inventive touches that were years ahead of their time. Beauty is everywhere, no matter what time of year you visit. One feature of the house that reveals much about the mind of Thomas Jefferson is the direction that all of the main rooms face. His study, bedroom, and library all face west. It is said that Jefferson loved to look west because that's where the frontier was. That's where the unexplored part of our country was located, and Thomas Jefferson was always facing the frontier!
    Facing the frontier -- that's an exciting way to live. With a restless heart that says, "I want more. There's more out there, and I want it." That should be the heart of every Christian as they face a new year. No matter how far you've come in your relationship with Christ, no matter how much you've experienced of Him, you know there has to be more. And our desire as we look at a new year should be that we want to go further than we've gone before.
    The Apostle Paul shared that passion. In Philippians 3, beginning with verse 10, he says: "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings....Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it." Incredible! In spite of the deep relationship that the Apostle Paul had with God, he felt that there was more of Jesus to experience!
    I pray that you, like Paul, will strive to: "Forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, and press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Jesus." There is more -- a greater experience of being closer to Jesus, experiencing His power, and His leading.
    Just as Thomas Jefferson enjoyed facing the frontier of his world, so there are two major spiritual frontiers for us to desire.
    The first frontier is to have greater intimacy with Jesus. Maybe you are like me....I'm more of a Martha than a Mary. I'm very busy, running around serving Jesus, but I want to experience more of the realness of His presence in this new year. I want more of His love and the sound of His voice in my life. I want to be more like Him than I have ever been.
    The second frontier is to have a greater impact for Jesus this year than in the past. Do you want to make more of a difference for Him than you have ever made before? The way to do that is to spend more time with Him each day. I want more time to love Jesus and time to allow Him to love me. I want to be more passionate about accepting His words as I open His book. Every time I'm reading His book to me, or when I'm in a Christian setting, I want to approach it with the heart cry of: "Jesus, help me to come away with more of You." I want to be intentional about searching every day for every possible opportunity to have an eternal impact on somebody's life for Him.
    "More. More about Jesus." That's my resolution for the new year and my prayer for each of you who are reading this column. May we seek to go further than we've ever gone with Him before. There's so much more!