Lydia by the River

“The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” — Acts 16:14

Paul kept travelling. Now a young man called Timothy was with him, and a friend called Silas, and a doctor called Luke, who wrote the book of Acts.

One night Paul had a vision. A man from Macedonia, across the sea in Europe, was standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”

So they got ready straight away and sailed across the sea. They came to a city called Philippi.

On the Sabbath day, they went outside the city gate, down to the river, where they thought there might be a place where people gathered to pray. They found some women there, and they sat down and began to talk with them.

One of the women was called Lydia. She came from a city called Thyatira, and she was a businesswoman. She sold purple cloth. Purple cloth was very expensive, because the dye was hard to make, and only rich and important people could afford it.

Lydia already worshipped God. And as she listened to Paul, the Lord opened her heart, and she believed what Paul said about Jesus.

Lydia and everyone in her household were baptised, right there by the river.

Then Lydia said to Paul and his friends, “If you agree that I truly believe in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” She kept on asking until they said yes.

So Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke went to stay in Lydia’s home. And her house became the meeting place for one of the very first churches in Europe.

Notice who opened Lydia’s heart. It was the Lord. Paul told her about Jesus, but it was God who helped her to understand and believe. That’s how it always is. We can tell people about Jesus, but it’s God who opens their hearts.

And as soon as Lydia believed, she wanted to share what she had. She opened her home. When God opens our hearts, we want to open our hands and our homes to others too.

Read it in your Bible: Acts 16:6–15

Dear God, thank you for opening hearts to believe in Jesus. Please open the hearts of my friends and family who don’t know you yet. And help me to share what I have, like Lydia did. Amen.