Clearing The Way(For Father’s Day)-1 Series

CLEARING THE WAY(for Father’s Day)-I—Psalm 119:9-16

A Properly Maintained Path

A Father’s Way(for Father’s Day)

Daddy’s Way(for Father’s Day)

Attention:

Saleeby-Fisher YMCA, Rockwell, NC has a great outdoor walking trail thru ‘the woods.’ Clearly discernible carefully-maintained rock-bedded pathway. No obstacles. As I used to walk it, I would see a weed encroaching on the path & I would pluck it away, or a tree may be leaning or fallen & I would report it so others could remove or manage it. The stream may have become swollen with recent rain & washed away the gravel.

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*Roads thru 'Tate’s Hell State Forest', FL. In the rainy season, they regularly get rivulets running across them causing large ditches to form unpredictably. A car or truck can get stuck or washed away in such breaks in the roadway. Regular maintenance required.

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Our ‘kid-built’ trail thru the woods—ca. 1965

Jn. 13:3-17—“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, & that He had come from God & was going to God, rose from supper & laid aside His garments, took a towel & girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin & began to wash the disciples’ feet, & to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered & said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands & my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; & you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.” So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, & sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher & Lord, & you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord & Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. “Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”

The psalmist described the means by which a young man was to cleanse his way or make his way straight in the world.

A young man entering adulthood &/or fatherhood can properly maintain his way in the world.

How can a man(person) entering adulthood maintain/make his(their) way in the world?

How can a Christian man maintain/make his way in the world?

12 Disciplines to maintaining/making your way in the world.

All these disciplines can either be limited to your little world or they can be brought into the realm of service to God.

1—Clearing the Way(for Father’s Day) demands...

A PURIFYING Heart(:9a)

Explanation:(:9a)

:9a—BETH. “How can a young man cleanse his way?...”

The writer poses(:9a) & answers(:9b) the question as to “how” it is possible for any “young man” to “cleanse” his chosen path.

The “young man’s” “way” is that path/direction which will be the determiner of every man’s income & influence.

Such a man’s “way” is unique because God has made each of us with a singular purpose in mind. We may share some commonalities & joining with others in the course of carrying out that unique/singular purpose, but everyone’s path is ultimately an expressly individual endeavor.

A “young man’s” “way” is also comprehensive in that it will include his career path, his business associate path, his spousal path, his familial path, his friendship path, his play &/or relaxation path, his relational path, his citizenry path, ad infinitum. Not temporary but a ‘life course.’

“Young men,” as soon as they graduate ‘“young man” status,’ will permanently enter, & be in the fray of, adulthood, manhood & probably fatherhood.

Thus in order for a “young man” to be a citizen among God’s kingdom & people, his “way” must be maintained(“cleanse”) specifically, particularly, definitely, within certain prescribed bounds.

His “way” is to be pure & transparent before God & others. His path is to be a path that is observable & readily distinguished—for himself & thus to others.

His is a constantly ‘pressure-filled’ role regarding responsibility for the proper(godly) maintenance of his path.

God has seen fit to give men the responsibilities of headship in the home & church.