Lydia, First Recorded European Convert

‘And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.’ And she constrained us.” –Acts 16:13-15.

Paul, Silas and Timothy were on the second missionary journey. Paul received the vision in which he saw a man saying, “Come over to Macedonia to help us” (Acts 16:10). They changed direction, sailed to Troas, went to Samothrace and to Neapolis, where they embarked. They went inland to Philippi, the chief city of the colony of Macedonia. Paul and his companions were now in Europe. Evidently they found no Jewish synagogue in the town, but they did find, on the Sabbath, a group of women gathered to pray. How did these come to know about God in a pagan land? Perhaps Lydia, as a business woman, a seller of purple, had encountered devout Jews who taught her to fear the one true God in the midst of a pagan culture. We cannot know for sure how Lydia had the custom of meeting with other women and praying on the Sabbath, but she was remembering that day, to keep it holy, thus knowing God’s law about a day set aside for worship.

And to this group of praying women, Paul preached the gospel of Christ. The results were good, especially with Lydia, the business woman in the group. She and her household believed in Jesus and were baptized. Lydia thus became the first recorded convert on the continent of Europe.

Upon her conversion, Lydia wanted to do something for the Lord’s work. Her hospitality came to the forefront. She invited the mission team to be guests in her home. Later, after Paul was released from prison, he went again to the home of Lydia, where “when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed” (Acts 16:40). Lydia, first European convert recorded in scripture, devout (already praying when Paul’s team found her), hospitable, and concerned for her household and strangers who needed lodging and food, Lydia stands as an example of Christian womanhood. Although we know only this about her, she stands tall as one who was unafraid to be counted among the believers at Philippi.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, April 27, 2010