Opened her heart

Acts 16:9-15
Lydia’s Conversion
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2016%3A9-15&version=NRSVUE
 
Who was Lydia? She only gets a brief mention in the Bible, yet her story shines with meaning. Tucked in Acts 16:14, we meet “a certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God… from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth.” At first glance, it’s just one verse. But if we lean in and listen, Lydia’s story speaks volumes.
 
Paul and Timothy had traveled to Philippi, a bustling Roman colony in what is now Greece. There, they met Lydia, a woman far from home. She came from Thyatira, a city famous for its rich purple dye—luxury fit for royalty. Thyatira is located in modern-day Turkey. So, Lydia was an immigrant, an entrepreneur, a woman with business savvy thriving in the male-dominated textile trade.
 
But Lydia wasn’t just a sharp businesswoman. She was also a “worshiper of God”—someone who followed the Jewish faith even though she wasn’t born into it. On the Sabbath, when others may have been busy with trade and travel, Lydia gathered with others by the river to pray. With no synagogue in Philippi, the riverbank became their holy ground. That’s where Paul found her—listening, searching, open.
 
Though the Bible doesn’t tell us why Lydia left her home, we can imagine. Maybe she dreamed of a better life. Maybe she was led by necessity—or perhaps by God’s quiet nudge. Whatever her path, Lydia was different from many women we read about in Scripture. She wasn’t meek or hidden behind a husband’s name. Running a household and a thriving business, she stood tall in her own right.
 
Even with her success, Lydia’s heart was still searching. Wealth and status hadn’t filled the deeper longing within her. But that day by the river, Christ met her in her searching. As Paul shared the good news, “the Lord opened her heart” (v.14). That moment was a resurrection for Lydia. Not from a life of scandal or shame—but from a life that felt incomplete.
 
Her response was immediate. She and her household were baptized, and she threw open the doors of her home. She insisted Paul and his companions stay with her, and she wasn’t taking no for an answer! Lydia’s home became the first house church in Philippi—a place where faith took root, and hospitality became holy.
 
Lydia’s story matters. She was the first recorded Christian convert in Europe. Through her, the gospel crossed into new lands. But more than that, Lydia shows us what can happen when Christ opens the tombs of our hearts. We might not always know what we’re searching for, yet Christ meets us where we are—by riverbanks, in boardrooms, and in the quiet corners of our lives. Christ breathes new purpose into us and uses our gifts, our skills, even our homes to keep sharing the good news.
 
Lydia’s story invites us to reflect on our own story. What’s your resurrection story?
 
Reflection Questions:
Has God ever opened your heart?
If so, reflect on that experience, and how you responded. Did you respond with radical hospitality and service like Lydia?
How do you see God opening hearts around you or in our world?
How or when have you experienced resurrection when Christ opened your heart to new life and a deeper purpose?
 
Pray: Open our hearts, Lord, like Lydia’s, so we may listen eagerly, respond faithfully, and offer our lives for your holy work.
 
Act: Visit a sacred place this week to pray, and allow God to open your heart.
 
 
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.