Bold As a Lion

This has to be one of my very favourite scriptures! When I picture a lion and I think of its mighty, thunderous roar, I see a creature that need not be afraid of anything.
The bible says I am righteous because of what Jesus has done for me. However, I don’t exactly have the appearance of lion! As far as I am aware nobody has ever been threatened by my big sharp teeth, nor have I ever been known to scare anyone away with my ferocious roar!

So what does the scripture mean when it says that the righteous are as bold as a lion?
The boldness of a believer has nothing to do with physical appearance but everything to do with knowing your spiritual position and authority. Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed before they sinned. After they sinned we hear them saying “we were afraid because we were naked so we hid”. Nothing whatsoever had changed in the physical. Adam and Eve were now separated from God and uncovered spiritually. With this, their boldness and confidence was replaced with guilt, shame and fear.

When you gave your life to Jesus Christ, your physical appearance may not have changed much, but your spiritual position changed dramatically. You went from being uncovered and separated from God, to being covered by the blood of the lamb and back in wonderful, intimate relationship with the one who made you. You were clothed with a robe of righteousness which now covers you. Colossians 3:3 says that your life is now ‘hidden with Christ in God’.

The righteousness that will make you as bold as a lion is nothing to do with your own good works, though it will produce good works. The righteous are as bold as a lion because through faith, the Lion of Judah is their righteousness, and they are hidden in Him. He has defeated the power of sin and death and is seated ‘far above all rule and authority, power and dominion’ (Ephesians 1:21). But that’s not all – scripture says that our position is right there with Him! Ephesians 2:6 – ‘And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus’.

Wow! We are inside the greatest and most powerful lion there has ever been! When you’re in that position what could you possibly be afraid of?

Prayer: Father, I thank You that I am hidden in Christ, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion. I thank You that death has been swallowed up in victory and that I need not fear death nor anything else in this world. When the enemy seeks to make me afraid by lying to me about my spiritual position, I pray that You would expose his lies and bring me back to the truth of Your Word so that I may be as bold as a lion for the rest of my days. In Jesus’ name, Amen.