The righteous are as bold as a lion.

Lion cubs look so cuddly.
They don't look bold.
They look inquisitive, comfortable, satiated.
How would you describe them?

I love this picture. It makes me want to hold them and feel that soft fur.

I wonder what they are thinking about.

I imagine they are watching the examples around them and learning how to survive.

Now the lion to the right looks bold. She is roaring, I think. Possibly there are other names for it, maybe snarling?

The cub has to learn from the example of its mother and father. It has to practice.

Does the roar make the lion bold? I don't think so.

How does the lion become bold and how do I grow in boldness?

This little cub is trying out some lion possibilities.

It seems he is practising his roar;

he is imitating the grown lions.

We too need to practice our roar.

The Proverbs tells us,

"The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." Pr 21:8

I must practise boldness as I know and understand it, to become bolder. Our boldness is based on what Christ has already done. Paul writes of the Corinthians in 2 Cor:3 "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.

5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 2 Cor:3: 3-5, 12