Proverbs 8:32-36

32 "And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.
34 Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.
35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,
36 but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death."

This is the close for Lady Wisdom, probably going to be very costly right? Listen. That's all. Listen to her, wait, find her. Everyone knows this is the hardest thing to do at times. We have agendas, passions, important things that others must be made aware of or else they will never know. Wisdom requires we set that to the side and give an attentive heart or ear.

To me this is a clear connection with Proverbs and the Gospel. The Gospel is good news and calls that we also listen. 95% of what Christians believe is similar to any other moral code from the existence of civilization. Yet the 5% that is based on set aside what you are driven by and listen, wait, find Jesus is very different. In Proverbs wisdom is personified by Lady Wisdom, in the New Testament Wisdom is incarnated in Jesus, who was fully God and fully man. That which is still fuzzy in Proverbs is made clear in the person of Jesus Christ.

This instruction to listen is followed by a promise (or blessing) and a consequence (or a curse). Favor comes along with watching and finding. If you are too busy talking, not looking, distracted you injure yourself and you love death. To me this is one of those places you should not over think, the message is clear life or death.