I have always been intrigued by Lydia from the Bible. I don’t know why since there are so few
verses about her, maybe because I just like the color purple?? Lol Anyways, I’ve been reading the verses about her
for a while, feeling like there was something the Lord was wanting me to get
from her. Lydia’s story goes like this:
“On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where
we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the
women who had gathered there. One
of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a
worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When
she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a
believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded
us.”
The first part of her story that I find
interesting is that the Bible refers to Lydia as a “worshiper”. It doesn’t say Lydia was a Christian. It doesn’t say that she loved God. It doesn’t say that she lived for Christ. It says she worshiped Him. The dictionary definition of “worshiper” is a
“formal or ceremonious rendering of honor”.
In other words, she went to church and went through the formalities…does
that sound familiar? Sometimes we go
through the motions of singing the songs, following along in our Bibles,
putting money in the plate: we are
worshipers and nothing else.
But the next few verses are so inspiring. It says that the Lord opened her heart to
respond! He touched her heart. At first she simply went through the motions,
but now, He had given her reason to “respond”.
Her response? It tells us in the
later verses…she became a “believer”. The
word “worshiper” in relation to Lydia is a noun. It’s a person…it’s who she was. The word “believer” is a verb. It means to “have confidence or faith in the truth”. Once the Lord opened her heart, she couldn’t
be complacent anymore, she had to do something.
Verse 40 is probably my favorite part of
Lydia’s story.
“After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to
Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. They they left."
I
take this verse to mean that after her conversion from worshiper to believer,
she wasn’t content with those little meetings at the river with the other
women. I take it to mean that she opened
her home to ministry and that men and women who loved God were welcome to
worship and praise Him there, together.
So
many times in my life I’ve been a worshiper.
I’ve done my duties as a Christian and nothing extra. I’ve sang the songs, read the verses, said a
mealtime prayer, but then became complacent.
I’m so thankful that He is always faithful to open and touch my
heart. He makes it my (and your)
decision about how we respond, or even if we respond at all. I want to be more like Lydia and let people
see the believer in me.
Verses from Acts 16:13 – 15, 40 NIV
