Proverbs 2:1-22 (NLT)
1 My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.
2 Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.
3 Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.
4 Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.
5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
8 He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.
9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.
11 Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.
12 Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.
13 These men turn from the right way to walk down dark paths.
14 They take pleasure in doing wrong, and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
15 Their actions are crooked, and their ways are wrong.
16 Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
17 She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.
18 Entering her house leads to death; it is the road to the grave.
19 The man who visits her is doomed. He will never reach the paths of life.
20 So follow the steps of the good, and stay on the paths of the righteous.
21 For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.
There is a major prerequisite to the blessings that only come in godliness. It’s not enough to just acknowledge the need for wisdom and understanding. It has to become a passion and desire above that of any treasure or worldly acquisition. Without this craving for insight the passions and longings will drift to fleshly earnings that are void of wisdom’s discipline. The very things that displace seeking for wisdom in value will be lost forever. The pleasure they offer can never be sought after as it will only corrupt and turn from the One who provides it in purity. In the pursuit of understanding, however, there is a discovery of Him that includes with it life’s greatest treasures. Instead of pursuing them, they now pursue those who are fixed alone on their Source. Where the heart pursues truth in righteousness it wraps around God and His ways.