I have to say, I feel a bond of sisterhood with Lydia. I have for some time now. She is one of the certain women mentioned in the scriptures. She can be found in three verses of Acts 16.
14 ¶ And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.
40 And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.
She intrigues me. How does one become a seller of purple? I like to imagine that she gathered and sold lavender. But, purple..is lavender rich enough, rare enough? Maybe she smashed grapes to stain fabric a deep dark purple. Was she the head of her household? Was she the spiritual leader? It seems to me she might have been.
She inspires me. I too want to be a certain women who worships God. I hope to be found as one who attends to the things which were spoken of Paul. I want to say to the the Lord’s servants “come into my house, and abide there.” I pray my heart and those of my household are opened. That we can be led by and comforted by the Spirit.
I think she and I would have been good friends. She would have joined me in this challenge to read all the scriptural references about Jesus. Together, we would have noted Jesus’ council in 3 Nephi 12: 1 “…Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants;…” We would have made plans to listen to general conference and to engage our families in the experience. To invite the apostles to come into my house. We would have celebrated and listened attentively as Elder Russel M. Nelson retold his experience with the scripture challenge and his council…
When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with that same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the Savior knows you truly want to reach up to Him – when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw his power into your life – you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do.
Yup I like Lydia. She is my soul sister. So what is a seller of purple. I started a Google search, but then thought otherwise. I want to let my mind and heart imagine for awhile longer.
Wendy Mair Clark 