Meditation for March 28, 2012

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

Dissect and Define: Wicked is evil in principle or practice.  Flee means to run with rapidity from danger.  Pursueth is to follow after another.  Righteous in the New Testament church age can be those who are saved (righteous in heaven) and those who are under the Spirit’s leading (living righteously..in this present world). God’s intention is for us to be both.

Paraphrase:  Fear is a terrible thing to experience.  There is  no feeling that is more oppressive than fear.  Not the fear that exhibits respect, but the fear that is demonstrated through the anxiety of terror.

Solomon tells us that the natural response to fear is to flee.  The supernatural response to danger is boldness.

So, when faced with apparent danger, do you respond properly?  It depends if you respond in the natural or in the supernatural.

The natural man is under his own control.  He rejects the internal influences of the Spirit.  He may not be wicked in his lifestyle choices; he is just following principles or practices out from underneath the Spirit’s control.   This will lead him to develop a fear of the unknown.  This fear will cause us to reject expressions of our faith because we believe it will plague us with danger.

However, the supernatural man realizes that he is under the influence of the Spirit of God and is being conformed to the image of God’s Son (Romans 8:29).  He can conclude with confidence that everything that happens to him is for his good (Romans 8:28).

This promise is for those who follow in principle and practice the simplified “hidden life.”  They can be sure that anything pursuing them is intended by God to bring them benefit.  The choice is thus, supernatural confidence in God or a natural fear of man.  Simply put, if you’re not being led, you will feel as if you are being followed.  So, lean on the supernatural and take your lion’s share of life.