“Acts 16:14-21”

Monday, January 25, 2016

“A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.’ And she prevailed upon us. It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, ‘These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.’ She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!’ And it came out at that very moment. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, ‘These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.’”

---End of Scripture verses---

Does verse 14 teach us that the Lord worked directly on Lydia’s heart apart from the message she was taught? Does it teach us that God handpicked and predestined Lydia to be saved and therefore His saving grace was irresistible to the will of a powerless woman? The answer to all of these questions is, of course, “No”. With what method had “the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul”? The first part of verse 14 gives us the answer to that question. Verse 13 tells us that the Paul and his travelling companions, “sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled” by the riverside to pray that day. And verse 14 tells us that Lydia “was listening”. Lydia’s heart was opened to receive the word because she was listening to the Gospel as it was preached, and because she had a good heart that was receptive to the word of God.

Romans 10:17 tells us that, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” This is the Lord’s chosen method for opening people’s hearts to the truth. When people choose to listen to the word with a good and honest heart, that good soil will open up and receive the seed of the word and it will produce good fruit unto salvation (Matthew 13:23). Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” Jesus then told His listening audience the manner in which the Father draws people to Him. “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.” The Lord and “opens hearts” and “draws” people to Him hear and learn the living, active, powerful word of God (Hebrews 4:12).

Friends, God will never impose His will upon you by circumventing your own free will. In just the same way that Lydia did, you must listen to (or read) the message of salvation, and you must make the good choice to willingly obey and follow Him. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The power of God for salvation is packed within the pages of your Bible, and that salvation is for everyone, not just a preselected few. You have to hear it, believe it and choose to obey it, just like Lydia did. Verse 15 tells us that she and her whole household were baptized that very day.

Please read Acts 16:22-28 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor

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