Louise Gevers

“The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptised, she invited us to her home.” Acts 16:14,15

Being an entrepreneur and owning your own business is close to the hearts of many people in the world today, and it can be a good thing through which you can grow with it, and use it for the benefit of many – it is what you do with it that matters. Yesterday we saw how Peter prospered by following Jesus, immediately leaving his fishing business when He called him; today we will look at the effect of the gospel on the life of a businesswoman in Philippi.

On Paul’s second missionary journey with Silas, he had a vision of a Macedonian man begging him to go over to Macedonia to help them, and concluded that God was calling him there to preach the gospel. (Acts 16:9) So he set out for Macedonia with Silas, Timothy and Luke and stayed several days at Philippi. Early in his preaching there Paul made a convert, who was, in fact, the first European convert, whose business opened the way for further ministry in that region, because of the effect that the gospel had on her.

Lydia, originally from Thyatira, was a merchant of purple cloth, and a worshipper of the Jewish God. She was one of a group of women who gathered on the Sabbath to pray outside the city gates, where Paul and his companions had also gone in the hope of finding a synagogue. (An unrecognised religion was not allowed to be brought into the city.) Paul preached the Gospel to the group, telling them of Jesus’ victory over sin and death through His own death and resurrection, and Lydia believed.

Although she already believed in God, she had been searching for a deeper understanding of Him and He met her need through the Gospel. This message transformed her life. Not only was she baptised, but she brought the other members of her household to be baptised too; and then, overflowing with joy and gratitude to God, she invited Paul and his companions to stay at her home while they were in Philippi in a manner that could not be refused: “‘If you consider me a believer in the Lord,’ she said, ‘come and stay at my house.’”(Acts 16:15)

They accepted her generous hospitality, and afterwards the new church continued to meet in her house. (Acts 16:40)

Prayer: Dearest Father, May the power of the Gospel so transform me that every part of my life and work may be used for Your purposes to bless others, and for Your glory, Amen.