I’ve got two important questions for you.

What do you consider treasure?

What safeguards have you installed that are protecting you?

Regarding treasure, you may have offered any of these answers: material possessions, bank accounts, stock holdings, nostalgic items, key relationships, or maybe even peace of mind.

As for safeguards, you may have cited alarm systems, surveillance video, deadbolts, concealed weapons, a cyber security contract, a trusted advisor, or a big 24/7 bodyguard as things you’ve set in place to make you feel safe. 

Proverbs 2 takes us in a different direction. The treasure it offers us is assured victory through pursuing wisdom and the fear of the LORD. And the safeguard it presents is the shielding of God Himself. 

Diving deeper, when the Bible says that God holds victory in store for people, it means that He sees to it that wins follow wisdom. Seek wisdom and you’ll find life wins too. He doesn’t always say when the wins will arrive, what kind, or how many, but they will be good, valuable and inevitable, to be sure.  

Promised victory is the sweetest of treasures. It means standing in the end when others have fallen. It means faith and obedience have reward. It means even death won’t beat you. It means carrying real hope of walking out of life a winner. That’s rich treasure!

God also guards. He plays both ends of the floor, helping us defend in life as well as score. Awareness, mindfulness, and protection are His specialties. Words like protect, guard, cover, defend, shield, shelter, fortress, and “God sees” are used well over 1,000 times in Scripture.

One sweet paraphrase of Proverbs 2:7–8 goes like this: “He’s (God is) a rich mine of Common Sense for those who live well, a personal bodyguard to the candid and sincere. He keeps his eye on all who live honestly, and pays special attention to his loyally committed ones” (The Message).

Indeed, God promises treasures of wisdom and commits to safeguard people, but three other things must be noted. 

First, notice the mix of human responsibility and divine involvement folded into these verses. While wins and safeguards are indeed promised by God, those who practice being upright, blameless, just and faithful are the ones who benefit. 

So live in pursuit of those traits. BUT understand that the upright, blameless, just and faithful are first made that way by faith through Christ. No other way. It starts and ends here. So pursue Jesus most. 

Second, God’s protection doesn’t always guard us from calamity. When calamity comes, it becomes the exception to the rule, not the rule itself.  And remember that an eternal value system still operates regardless of circumstances here on earth. Heaven keeps the final score.

Third, God doesn’t waste our experiences. Even our failures can end up beneficial somehow as we trust Him with the writing of our stories. Life can sometimes trash our trophies but God never does. The worst thing is never the last thing for the upright, the just, the blameless, the faithful.

Reflect:  What is your treasure? How satisfied are you with the safeguards you’ve placed in your life? Is pursuing godly wisdom giving you hope of stored up victory?

A prayer to consider: Heavenly Father, thank You for storing up wins for me as I fear You properly and seek Your wisdom. Having You shield me is the best. Nothing beats the peace of having Your protection.

By Your Spirit, help me treasure You as I ought. Show me wise ways to protect my life. And may I bring wisdom, protection and joy to others and honor to Christ. Amen.