LYDIA

 

CHARACTERISTICS:

A Gentile adherent of Judaism, she was a successful businesswoman who sold a type of cloth prized for its purple color. As head of her household, she may have been either widowed or single. So strong was her faith that her entire household followed her example and was baptized. She extended hospitality to Paul and his companions, even after their imprisonment.

Her Sorrow:

To see Paul and Silas beaten and thrown into prison for the sake of the gospel she had embraced.

Her Joy: 

That God’s Spirit directed Paul and his companions to Macedonia, enabling her and others at Philippi to hear the gospel for the first time.

STORY IN BRIEF:

Lydia, a business woman who made her living by selling clothes, lived in Philippi, Macedonia. She was a gentile but Judaism-addict.

Paul had a vision where a man pleaded that he came to Macedonia with the gospel. So he headed there.

After sharing the good news with the Philippines along the coast, Lydia and her household believed and were baptized. 

Lydia, then, extended her hospitality towards them by accommodating Paul and his companions her house.

Shortly after, Paul and Silas got arrested and imprisoned; Paul had attempted delivering a young girl that was obsessed of the devils.

But owners of this lady who earned through her fortune telling disagreed and reported him to the local magistrate.

Paul and Silas praised the earth shook at midnight, and were finally miraculously released.

REFERENCE SCRIPTURES:

Acts 16:6 – 40