For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul (Proverbs 2:10).

Every time I read the second chapter of the Proverbs these days, I am freshly impacted by its overwhelming overtones of the Gospel -- centuries before the birth of Christ.  If you read the chapter with the understanding that Jesus ultimately became the embodiment of the Word, the Wisdom, the Insight and Understanding of Proverbs 2, it's really quite remarkable to see how much this Old Testament book of wisdom illuminates the New Testament's message of hope and salvation in Jesus.  And vice versa.

The Proverbs about calling out, crying aloud, and searching as if on a literal treasure hunt (verses 1-5) sound an awful lot like Matthew 7:7-12, where Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock... The Proverbs about finding protection, guidance, and salvation (verses 7-12) sound an awful lot like the New Testament passages which talk about, to use a bit of old-school Sunday-school terminology, "accepting Jesus into your heart" (See Romans 10:8-11, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 3:17, Colossians 3:15, and 1 Peter 3:15).  And the Proverbs about walking in the ways of good men and being characterized by righteousness and upright, blameless living (verses 20-22) sound an awful lot like the New Testament passages about being controlled by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9-17) and producing spiritual fruit in keeping with the life of following Jesus (Galatians 5:16-26).

Could this all be coincidence?  Or cleverly-contrived parallelism?  Maybe.  But I can't help but read Proverbs 2 and be freshly impressed with the power and prevalance of the Gospel.