cleanse your way

If you have ever seen a toddler throwing a fit because he could not get his way, you easily understand why toddlers cannot be in charge. What about teenagers or high school students? Should they be in control of the family or school? To have order, there are some who are to be in charge and others who are not.

Why did the psalmist speak specifically to "young men" in this verse? Youth is a time of strong passions, feelings, and ideas not yet tempered by experience and life wisdom. There is a great danger in allowing these things to rule our attitudes and behaviors.

The answer of how to keep strong desires and feelings in their proper place is found in the rest of this verse: "by taking heed . . . to thy word." Similar to comparing your test paper with the answer key, how does your "way" compare with God's way when you read His Word?

Lamentations 3:27 gives good advice, saying, "Bear the yoke in [your] youth." Following God's way teaches us the necessity of putting on the yoke of self discipline. Our temper, feelings, and passions need to be under this yoke, for if we allow them to rule us, we will be out of order.
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Young person, you are creating paths, ways, and habits that are setting you up for a future of success or failure. Thus, the GREAT importance of cleansing your way while you are still young, before bad habits become deeply ingrained. Take the flashlight of God's Word and shine it on your ways (your conversations, online activity, and attitudes toward your parents). Is there anything that needs to be cleansed?

Good habits formed in your youth 
make all the difference!