A YOUNG MAN'S WAY

''WHEREWITHAL SHALL A YOUNG MAN CLEANSE HIS WAY/ BY TAKING HEED THERETO ACCORDING TO THY WORD''PSALM 119;9 The psalmist's question about the way of a young man may be likened unto a manufacturer's attempt to display the utmost effectiveness of his product. The power of a soap to cleanse a stain is not seen until the stain be very deep, and thus it is declared from the opening chapters of Genesis, ''for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth'' [8;21], proving that a very great power is required to cleanse it. Youth is often a time when lust cries for gratification, and passions are most unruly, and when indulged these will quickly begin to form beaten paths for sin in a young man's life which he may never depart from all his days. The greatest danger of the way of self-gratification in youth is that it seems pleasurable, even right, to the youthful mind which is not farsighted enough to reckon with the day of accounting that is coming, as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes warned; ''Rejoice O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment'' [11;9]. Hence the question ''wherewithal'' or by what means is the unwary youth to cleanse himself from the evil within his own heart, and keep himself from the defiling temptations all about him/ A straightforward, emphatic answer follows, ''by taking heed thereto according to thy word.'' In order to do this, it must first be accepted that everything the Bible says is God's inspired Word, that it is the end of all controversy, that the thoughts of one's heart, if contrary to it are wrong, and the Bible is right. God's testimony that man's heart is ''deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked'' [Jer. 17;9] muist not only be agreed to as true of all mankind in general, but also by the Holy Spirit's convicting work must come a feeling sense of one's personal unbelief, rebellion, and disobedience. With the conviction of sin, comes also an understanding that the blood and righteousness of the now risen Saviour is required for God to ever pardon and justify a sinner, and that to continue to follow Satan, the god of this world, will emd in eternal Hell [Jn.16;8-11].