Acts 16:11–15  From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Just a few weeks ago I was standing in some of the places mentioned in this passage: Neapolis and Philippi. I stood beside the river where Lydia was baptized and was able to share some devotional thoughts with our traveling companions as seen in the picture.

Paul went to the river on the Sabbath expecting to find people who worshipped the true God, and he was not disappointed. Lydia was such a person. She was not originally from Philippi, but Thyatira in Asia, which is in modern day Turkey. Lydia was the name of the region where the city of Thyatira was located, so it could have been a nickname for her. Some speculate she may have been either Euodia or Syntyche that Paul mentions near the end of his letter to the church in Philippi, two ladies who were having a bit of a disagreement. But here she is identified as Lydia.

Those of you who know my dear wife, Cheryl, know that she has a little bit of a West Texas accent. When she was attending Concordia Lutheran College in Austin, people would hear her talk and ask, “Where are you from?” and she would say “Vernon.” That became her name on campus. Everyone called her “Vernon.”  I transferred there in the middle of freshman year, and for several months, that is the only way I knew her! Even after I found out her name was Cheryl, I still called her Vernon. It wasn’t until after we started dating during our junior year of college that I started calling her Cheryl.

Getting back to Lydia, she was a prominent businesswoman, and the first convert to Christianity in Europe. When she heard Paul share the news that Jesus was the Son of God and the Savior of all people, the Lord opened her heart. She listened and believed. She and her household were baptized. No matter what her name may have been, she now had God’s name placed on her and would from now on be known has His child.