Proverbs 8:1-36 (NLT)
1 Listen as Wisdom calls out! Hear as understanding raises her voice!
2 On the hilltop along the road, she takes her stand at the crossroads.
3 By the gates at the entrance to the town, on the road leading in, she cries aloud,
4 “I call to you, to all of you! I raise my voice to all people.
5 You simple people, use good judgment. You foolish people, show some understanding.
6 Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right,
7 for I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception.
8 My advice is wholesome. There is nothing devious or crooked in it.
9 My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those with knowledge.
10 Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
11 For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it.
12 “I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment.
13 All who fear the LORD will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech.
14 Common sense and success belong to me. Insight and strength are mine.
15 Because of me, kings reign, and rulers make just decrees.
16 Rulers lead with my help, and nobles make righteous judgments.
17 “I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me.
18 I have riches and honor, as well as enduring wealth and justice.
19 My gifts are better than gold, even the purest gold, my wages better than sterling silver!
20 I walk in righteousness, in paths of justice.
21 Those who love me inherit wealth. I will fill their treasuries.
22 “The LORD formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else.
23 I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began.
24 I was born before the oceans were created, before the springs bubbled forth their waters.
25 Before the mountains were formed, before the hills, I was born—
26 before he had made the earth and fields and the first handfuls of soil.
27 I was there when he established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans.
28 I was there when he set the clouds above, when he established springs deep in the earth.
29 I was there when he set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries. And when he marked off the earth’s foundations,
30 I was the architect at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence.
31 And how happy I was with the world he created; how I rejoiced with the human family!
32 “And so, my children, listen to me, for all who follow my ways are joyful.
33 Listen to my instruction and be wise. Don’t ignore it.
34 Joyful are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home!
35 For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the LORD.
36 But those who miss me injure themselves. All who hate me love death.”
Wisdom is not merely a collection of good ideas or human insights that all carry equal weight. In the biblical sense, true Wisdom is a Person—the Spirit of Wisdom, ultimately revealed in Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 1:24, 30; Proverbs 8; Colossians 2:3). Wisdom is not something we possess; He is Someone we know, love, and honor.
When we treasure this living Wisdom (God Himself) above every other desire—money, success, pleasure, substances, status, even ministry—something counterintuitive happens. Seeking and honoring Him first doesn’t cause us to lose the good things of life; instead, everything else of genuine, lasting value is added to us as a byproduct (Matthew 6:33). Gold, silver, career, relationships, health—whatever has real worth—is guarded, purified, and properly enjoyed only when it is kept in its proper place: far below Him.
In other words:
So the paradox of the gospel is this: the moment you love and pursue God above all else, you don’t end up with less—you end up with everything else in its richest, safest, and most joyful form, because it is all held in the hands of the One who is Wisdom Himself.