Furthermore…

I heard a talk one time about how it is important for a father to give his son “the blessing” so that the son can feel approved at a deep level, at peace with the family values and traditions, and be able to move on in life with a sense of the rightness of all things in his world. It is done in an explicit, formal way on a particular occasion and not assumed or taken for granted. It was stated that a boy or young man needs and craves this, and that his life will be under a kind of pall without his father’s clear and unmistakable blessing. Something along this line is included in some of the episodes of the Old Testament, but I can’t think of a place where it is treated on the human level in the New Testament. We are familiar with the times when our heavenly Father gives His approval  to Jesus Matthew 3:17 and 17:5).