The Righteous Are As Bold As A Lion

Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.”

I love that Bible verse! The wicked person flees when no man pursueth. That means evildoers have to look over their shoulder all the time, paranoid that they'll either get caught. The person who does right can walk in complete boldness, fearing nothing. I would infinitely rather die as a righteous man for doing right, than to suffer as an evildoer! What saith the Scripture? 1st Peter 4:15-16, “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” I would ten billion times rather die for my Christian faith, than suffer for hurting another human being. I hate evildoers! I don't hate people, I hate the sin. We must never accept the sin with the sinner, nor reject the sinner with the sin. 

Psalms 97:10-12, “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.”

Crime does pay short-term, otherwise people wouldn't commit it; but it never pays in the long-term! Ecclesiastes 8:12, “Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.” Our walk with God should be strong enough as believers, that we do right when no one else is looking, because WE FEAR GOD. I love something that Dr. Jack Hyles said: 

“If you want to never do anything that is terribly wicked, then you never do anything that is slightly wicked.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, “Unjust In The Least.”

By God's grace, I want to think right, live right and do right. If we DO GOOD it will BE GOOD! Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) said that truth! Sometimes doing the right thing is frustrating, and may not be convenient, but it pleases our righteous God. Psalms 97:12, “Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.” What a beautiful Bible verse! We are supposed to be thankful at the remembrance of God's holiness! I am so thankful that we have a just, faithful and good God! Aren't you? What if the Devil were more powerful than God? I am so thankful that when all is said in done in this life and world, that our holy and righteous God will make everything right. I love something that the brilliant author Mark Twain (1835-1910) said: 

“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.” —Mark Twain

What a simple but profound statement! If we always tell the truth, we never have to cover our lies. I want to always live in such an honest and upright way, that if asked questions I never have to lie. I learned something that I thought was fascinating from a police detective. He said the way to find out if someone is lying is to simply keep asking questions. If someone is lying, then at some point their story will change, because they have to lie to cover-up for the lies. But if a person is telling the truth, you can ask them questions for three months and their story will never change. The way to avoid ending up in a difficult situation like that is to always DO RIGHT! Do right dear reader, though the stars fall, DO RIGHT!!! 

The Righteous Lord Loveth Righteousness

The primary evidence of being saved is the indwelling Holy Spirit (1st John 3:24), who creates a desire in us for righteousness. 1st John 3:7-8, “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” That doesn't mean someone is not saved who lives in unrepentant sin. There is much confusion and debate over this subject in churches today. Christians don't always do the right thing. In fact, sometimes believers commit horrible crimes, just like unbelievers do at times; but there should be a desire inside the breast of every born-again child of God, that hates evil. I hate the wrong things I have done in my life. I am not proud of them. I wish I could go back and undo them, and always do the right thing! That is the Holy Spirit in me!!!

Psalms 11:7, “For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.” I want God to be proud of me! I want my heavenly Father's face to shine toward me, bragging on me like He did Job. I want to work as hard as I can, in the Lord's strength, to influence as many people with the Gospel of free grace as I can, so there will be a bunch of saved souls waiting to greet me in Heaven someday (Daniel 12:3). God loves when His children do right! No one ever gets away with anything. I heard recently that the conviction rate for murderers is about 50%. Most people who commit horrible crimes are never brought to justice. The culprits behind the 911 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City have never been brought to justice. The corrupt U.S. Justice Department has turned a blind eye to the crimes, but Ecclesiastes 5:8 and 12:14 says they won't get away with it. I thank God for those passages of Holy Scripture!!!

The Upright Christian Can Stand As Bold As A Lion

The righteous are as bold as a lion. What a beautiful truth! When I attended Hyles-Anderson College (1985-1993), I gladly served the Lord voluntarily in the 'B bus ministry' for seven years in Chicago. I drove a church bus for four of those years, which is how I sustained my permanent neck injury when rear-ended by another bus n 1992. We had a slum apartment building on our 76-3 bus route. This particular building was known for drugs and roughnecks. One afternoon there was a police raid and dozens of cops swarmed in on the building. One of our faithful teenage girls stood firm in front of the building, while everyone else who lived there was fleeing. The police asked her the question, “Why aren't you running?” She confidently replied, “I'm not doing anything wrong, so why would I run?” That is a perfect example of our text Bible verse from Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.” 

I don't know about you, but I am determined to always do the right thing. I know I won't always do the right thing, because I am a sinner by nature, but at any given moment I CAN choose to do what is right (1st Corinthians 10:13). It feels good to live right. When I surf the internet, I always assume that thousands of people are monitoring my activity, because some of them are. Everything we do online is recorded, shared, stored, monitored, analyzed and archived. There is no such thing as internet privacy! I never say anything in private that I wouldn't want everyone to know, because people talk. It is in our nature. James 3:8, “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” Every Christian believer ought to purpose in our heart to think right, live right and do right! That way we can confidently walk upright everywhere we go, at all times without guilt or worry, being AS BOLD AS A LION in the fear of God!

“No man can pray inside the will of God, while he lives outside the Word of God!” —Brother Lester Roloff, “Wisdom Of The Word”