LYDIA – A PRECIOUS TREASURE AND A WOMAN OF CONVICTION
Apostle Paul and Silas sailed to Philippi, a prominent business city and a Roman colony in the first district of Macedonia. They spent several days there. Philippi seems to have no synagogue. A synagogue is a building or place of meeting for worship and religious instruction in the Jewish faith or a consecrated space that can be used only for the purposes of prayer. Communal Jewish worship can be carried out where ten Jews (a Minyan) assemble. However, worship can be carried out alone or with fewer than ten people assembled together. Any Jews who happen to visit the city or passing by on a Sabbath day know where they meet outside the city, near the riverside. On that Sabbath day, Paul and Silas went to the riverside which was customarily a Jewish meeting place for prayers. There they met some women group in a circle discussing. They began to minister to them about Jesus and perhaps how He changed their lives.
In the midst of the group was a woman named Lydia who came from the town of Thyatira on a business trip. She fetched designed and expensive purple cloth at her home and brought them to the business city of Philippi, where they were sold to traders and prominent people. She, like other worshippers in the group believed in God; a Gentile who attends a Jewish synagogue. Apostle Paul spoke persuasively, honestly and experientially of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord opened her heart to heed the teaching of the salvation of Jesus Christ. Lydia had the conviction of the word in the power of the Holy Spirit; put her faith in Jesus and asked Him to come into her heart. Indeed, I can relate to this because faith comes from hearing the word of God.
She became saved and asked Paul to baptize her to show her new found faith in Christ. She also wanted to be identified with Jesus’ people – people to see that she had become a believer in Christ Jesus; people of the Way. Through her conviction, she went home and must have told her family about her new found faith and Master. In the days that followed, she brought members of her household; they too became saved and were baptized. Lydia was so excited about her faith in Christ Jesus that she persuaded Paul and Silas to come and stay in her home. They acceded to her request and stayed in Lydia’s house with her family; may have discussed more about Jesus, shared a lot of their personal experiences and answered many questions to alleviate doubts and fears they might have had (Acts 16:12-15). Also when Paul and Silas came out of jail, they went straight back to the house of Lydia where brethren met and encouraged them (Acts 16:40).
Who then was Lydia? She hailed from the town of Thyatira, known for making purple materials and great commerce in Asia Minor. She was a woman of substance, a precious treasure, highly respected and prominent. Lydia was more than comfortable and of course wealthy. She lived in a big house with her family in a big prominent city; sold expensive purple cloths which included purple cloth and purple robes, etc. She had great acumen for her business – knew where, when and how to buy, sell, stock, and stayed busy late nights. Purple was not only an indicator of wealth but also a symbol of political power. She might have been the head of her household since there was no mentioned of her husband or possibly living in a homestate where the head became the bottom. It could also be that because she was “worth her weight in silver” meaning high status and wealth. Even though she sold luxury goods to the elite and juggernauts but she knew there was something more to life than riches and prominence.
Lydia, was not the only woman in that Jewish worship place, why was she singled out for mention?
- i)Lydia belonged to a group of worshipping women! She was a staunch member of the women worship group. On that fateful day, she did not forsake the gathering of believers. She was a lady of class, a busy woman and a travelled trader who deals in expensive purple cloth; could have preferred to stay focus on her business, making more sales and money. She had genuine love for God and gave God first place in her life; did not allow her business, wealth and class over cloud her need for God. Little surprised she became passionate and caught up with the message of salvation.
- ii)She was a worshipper not a war-shipper or a pew or benchwarmer. In the context, the word worshipper was used to describe Gentiles who believed in Jewish God, Yahweh; have not yet received Christ. Some people go to worship places and are not part of the worship. They are neither involved nor participate in true worship and fellowship. They just show up for formality sake and are indifferent to both the message and fellowship. They are too full for the spirit of God to enter into them and too distracted to be attentive or understand the message. Faith comes from hearing the word. The Lord opened her heart and she accepted Paul’s teaching about Jesus and became converted.
- iii)She brought her family and they accepted the Lord and were baptized. When you first get saved, you would be prompted to reach out to your Jerusalem (family, loved ones, former peers). A beggar has found bread and goes out to invite other beggars to come and eat with her. The family must have seen and experienced the changed life in her and joined her to reach out for the Bread of life. Every saved person heard or read the message and testimony of a saved person; be it from the pulpit, on radio, viewed on TV screen or those on witnessing or evangelism.
- iv)Invited servants of God to her home. As a Gentile, if you know I have really been saved and accepted worthy of association with you, men of God, Jewish people and Christians, kindly visit my home and enjoy my hospitality; bless my family. My household and I shall gladly be blessed by your presence and learn more of the new Way. Again by her invitation, she became a servant tending the needs of missionaries. Later in Paul’s mission, he stopped by Lydia’s house where he met with other believers.
- v)A place of worship. This woman was sold out for Christ. She turned her home into a meeting place for women group where they gather to worship God and share fellowship. She encouraged and supported other women and of course men who came to faith through fellowshipping with them. In this place the Holy Spirit touches lives and brings change of heart, mind and perspectives.
- vi)She supported her household. Since no mention was made of her husband or his trade, it could suggest that she was a widow and a bread winner who used her trade to bless and support her family. She was a precious treasure and her household depended on and trusted her. She worked hard and took care of her family (Proverb 31:16-18; 21-25, 27). “Other things may change us, but we start and end with family” – Anthony Brandt.
Reflection: What is the whole purpose of having a family? Are you in competition with yourself in your home? Why do you leave your family each day to work? Has your job become more important than your family? Has the blessedness of the money you make become an idol in your life? – prompt your pride and make you insensitive and selfish? Is your home a worship place or just architecture of bricks and planks? Would your family call you a Christian? Would your children call you blessed? Are you sure God blessings in your life are not steering you in a wrong direction? Are you a good role model to your family and neighbors? Would your character attract souls for Christ? Since you became saved, how many souls have you won for Christ? Can God and the Church depend on you as a witness? Are you a home builder or destroyer? Would your other half thank God for your presence in their life?
Mother Teresa once said, “I think today the world is upside down and is suffering so much because there is so very little love in the home and in the family life. We have no time for our children, we have no time for each other, and there is no time to enjoy each other.” “She added, “Love begins at home; love lives in homes, and that is why there is so much suffering and so much unhappiness in the world today……Everybody today seems to be in such terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other and in the homes begin the disruption of the peace of the world.”
As we celebrate another Mother’s day, our generation needs great women like biblical Lydia in our homes, Churches and society; whose occupation and business shall bring blessings and honor to their families. They shall not miss midstream the importance of leaving their homes to work. They should understand that “there is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation than for bread.” We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. The remedy starts in our homes. We need women like Lydia who goes to Church with an empty heart that the Lord may find space to come in; fill her, refresh her, ignite her and satisfy her. A woman who will put God first and do not forsake the gathering of God’s people; will make her home a place of worship; ensure her household knows and worship the Lord. She would be an instrument of God’s grace, witnessing God’s love to all mankind, starting from her home. I pray that the Spirit of God that opened the heart of Lydia shall possess our mothers and women as they celebrate Mother’s Day. I appreciate all our mothers and mothers to be; wishing them Happy Mothers Day.
Reach: Evangelist Ogbonnaya, Godswill @ weefreeministries.org or P. O. Box 720035, Houston, Texas, 77272. Tel. 832-881-3929