Lydia, Dealer of Purple

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 16:11-15 ~~~ Psalm 149 ~~~ John 15:26—16:4a ~~~

 

Paul and the other disciples are fervently going about spreading the word,

even traveling by boat to reach more potential believers.

On one such occasion they leave the city proper

in search for a private place to pray; for it was the Sabbath.

 

Rather than the Lord lead them to a secluded place to pray he calls them into action.

They are attracted to this woman selling her cloth outside the city gates.

We do not know what made them stop...

Was it her beauty?...

Was it her fine people cloth?...

Was it her possible wealth?...

 

We are not told these details.

We are told that she worshipped God, Yahweh, 

and she was willing to listen to these visitors.

She was a woman open to greater possibilities for her life.

 

She undoubtedly was also hoping to sell some of her fabric to them.

After all she was a business woman...unusual back then.

 

I find it interesting that it is recorded that she was selling purple cloth.

 

I belong to a small Red Hat group of women and we do indeed wear purple.

It does not matter if you like it or look good in purple...

you just wear it along with your red hat.

 

Purple cloth...the color of royalty and kingship.

Purple is also the color of repentance.

Dyeing the cloth purple was a tedious task.

 It required much patience and time.

The only way to make colors back then was to extract the pigment

  from a plant or an animal source.

This purple dye came from tiny little crustaceans.

It took many of these creatures to get enough juice

 to dye just one yard of cloth.

If you did indeed sold purple you could expect to receive

whatever price you asked.

It was equivalent to the designer products of today.

 

'...a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth,

the Lord opened her heart to pay attention...'

 

Paul had been busy converting Gentiles; why not this woman as well.

If nothing else he could practice his conversion speech and see her reaction.

Somehow before Paul ever spoke to Lydia the Spirit had opened her heart.

He open heart was just waiting for a message from God to come...

and Paul delivered it that day.

He was admiring her purple cloth and speaking to her of Jesus.

The color purple and Jesus.

Purple is the color of the Roman elite.

 

'...she offered us an invitation...'

 

As soon as Lydia had received the Spirit into her open heart;

she also opened her home for hospitality.

 

"If you consider me a believer in the Lord,
come and stay at my home."

 

 

Lydia was filled with the joy and gratitude 

through the words she heard from Paul.

The Spirit inspired Paul

 to speak the words this dealer of purple

needed to hear.

The Holy Spirit will fill a listening heart

with the words of truth and life.

The Easter Blessing of the color purple...

a reminder of our Christ the King.