Proverbs 8:17-21

"I love them that love me." Hold that next to chapter 1, verses 24–28 — the same voice, remember, that said "I have called, and ye refused... they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." Here is the other side of that door: those that seek me early SHALL find me. Same Wisdom, two faces — mild kindness toward the seeker, stern judgment toward the lifelong refuser — and the difference between the two verses is nothing but when you come. So come early. Early in the morning, before the day eats you. Early in any trouble, before you've tried everything else first. And early in life: the man who gives God his youth never once, in the entire history of the world, has regretted coming too soon — while heaven hears a steady stream of the other regret, the one that runs "I loved thee too late."

What does she pay? "Durable riches" — and that word durable is the whole sales pitch, because it's the one feature no other wealth offers. Worldly riches have two worms gnawing their living body: the unrighteousness that tinges how most of it is gotten, and the uncertainty that clings to all of it once you have it. Rank? We are all low-born until we are born again — and then we are children of a King. The world's payouts come by the handful; handfuls are gotten on the ground — but a soulful is not to be had except in Christ. And men do not always reciprocate love — David lost his on Absalom, Paul poured his out on Corinth and got grief back — but "I love them that love me" carries no such risk. Here is no such danger. Nobody ever loved Wisdom at a loss.