Coming Home to Freedom: The Woman in Purple

Devotional Reading: Acts 16:13-15

I have this faint memory from my childhood of my mother dressing up all in purple for church one Sunday.  She was going to church as "Lydia."  I think this was probably the first time I had heard anything of Lydia, other than when I had skimmed across her name in the Bible.  But my mom was dressed up as Lydia and she was proud of it. 

Lydia was a business woman.  She sold purple cloth. This means she likely had a wealthy clientele. And it is likely that she was wealthy herself.

Lydia was also a woman of faith. She worshiped God.  Then one day she encountered the apostle Paul and heard his message about Jesus.  God opened her heart to respond to this message and she became a baptized believer.  She then offered hospitality to Paul in her home and her house became the center of a new gathering of Christian believers.

God can use you too! Just like how God used Lydia to help with the spread of the good news of Christ to Europe.  She was a businesswoman, respected in her community, and yet she was unafraid to receive Christ and offer hospitality to his servants.  Won't you do the same?

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