Jump Start # 3127
Proverbs 28:1 “The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
Our verse is one of the many contrasts that makes the book of Proverbs such a loved and practical book. The wicked are contrasted with the righteous. Fleeing is contrasted with standing or remaining. Being afraid is contrasted with courage or boldness.
Now, why would the wicked flee if no one is pursing? They may believe someone is. They may believe that they are about to get into trouble because of the wicked choices that they have made. The wicked live on edge. Fearful, not trusting, never at ease or calm, that’s the life of the wicked. And, that image well defines where many are today. The news is bad. The economy is sinking. Flu. Covid. Now, monkeypox? Running scared. Nothing to hold on to. Nothing to believe. And, that is life without God. Without God, we are in charge and that’s scary. Without God there is no one to come to help us. Without God there is nothing sure, absolute and concrete.
Fearful people are always talking about the storms. They are running about like ole’ Chicken Little, believing the sky is falling. When one is fearful, you can’t count on them for anything. And, the greater the fear, the more one worries. And, worry has a way of chipping away any faith that we have left.
The righteous have nothing to fear. They are bold. They are like a lion. And, what makes the righteous this way, is the Lord. Their faith in the Lord assures them that all will be fine. That faith conquers worry and drives fear away. The righteous may not know all the answers to fix all the problems in the country, but their hope is not in the next election, nor, the court house, or the state house. Their hope is in God.
Imagine walking down the street and instead of walking your dog, you were walking a lion. You wouldn’t be afraid of anything. Snake jump out at you? Nothing to fear. The lion would get it. A mean dog? No problem, you’ve got a lion beside you. Bad guy? Stand aside and release the lion. That’s the righteous. Satan throws new ideas, innovations and theories that are far from the truth. The world doesn’t know what to believe. The world is overcome with these things. The wicked believes all of them. Not the righteous. A college professor with a mountain of PhD’s and an armful of research material doesn’t move the righteous at all. The righteous knows that God is right. The righteous is not intimidated by intellectualism, the arrogance of authors, nor the size of the crowd on the other side. That doesn’t mean anything. The righteous has God and the Lord is always right. Bold as a lion. Fearless. Courageous. Nothing to run from and nothing to hide from.
The game plan of the wicked is often to scream the loudest. The mob mentality scares many people. Some are more afraid of being politically incorrect with culture than they are being Biblically correct with God. Stand with God. Be bold. When Peter was told not to bring up the name of Jesus again, he said, “we cannot stop speaking what we’ve heard and seen.” Boldness. Courage. Fearless.
The wrong will always try to silence that which is right. This is not about politics, elections, economy, but about Biblical truth. The pages of our Bible are lined with the courageous. Moses’ parents were not afraid of the king’s edict. The three Jewish men in Babylon refused to bow down to the idol. Daniel would not stop praying when it was against the law. Bold as a lion.
Courage. Boldness. Fearlessness. Faith. It’s time for God’s people to be lions and not mice. It’s time to draw a line in the sand and say to our friends, co-workers and family, “That’s just not right with God.” Will they stop? Probably, not. Will they turn on you? Good chance. Will they pressure you? Yes. But that lion has nothing to fear. Error always finds ways to hide, twist things and switch subjects. Truth conquers.
Bold as a lion…remember that!
Roger