February 15, 2025

Acts 16, 14

Lydia

One of those listening to Paul´s message was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s words.

Dear Readers,

the stamp which I am showing you today comes from Portugal and depicts a dark-skinned woman. She is carrying a laundry basket on her head. This image reminds me of a woman from the Bible who also had to do with fabrics. Her name was Lydia, and she was a trader in purple fabrics. 

Lydia listens while the apostle Paul tells a few women about Jesus Christ. Paul is on his missionary journey, preaching the gospel to people he meets in gatherings. God has even commissioned him to share the good news of God's love for the first time with the people of Europe. This message falls on fertile ground with Lydia. She listens to what God says through Paul. And she believes in Jesus Christ. God himself not only opened her ears, but also her heart.

I can see the secret of faith in Lydia. It is not enough to just hear the gospel of Jesus Christ with your ears. This message wants to enter your heart. But God himself must open people´s heart to his love. We can read the Bible from cover to cover and back again without being touched by the word of God. But when God's Spirit touches the heart, we soak up the Word of God like a dry sponge soaks up water.

Lydia was a woman who honored God. She had respect for God. God saw this reverence and he touched her heart through his Spirit. She recognized that Jesus Christ had suffered and died for her sins on the cross of Golgotha. She recognized the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior and Redeemer. She was baptized and became a Christian.

Faith arises where God's spirit touches us. Faith grows when we encounter God with reverence and respect. Faith unfolds in our lives where God's love transforms our hearts.

The woman pictured on the stamp is carrying her laundry basket on her head. I can imagine her carrying her freshly laundered clothes home. At home, she unpacks the basket and takes care of her clothes. Faith in God is quite similar... We must not “carry our faith around on our heads”. Faith belongs into the heart; just as fresh laundry belongs into a wardrobe.

It is my prayer that God himself will open my heart to his word again and again. It is my prayer that I honor God and love Him with all of my heart. It is my prayer that you, dear reader, like Lydia, will honor God and that God himself will touch your heart with his love. I hope that your faith in Jesus Christ will become a matter of the heart.

I look forward to your visit on March 1, 2025. May our Almighty God bless and keep you in spirit, soul and body. May you be entrusted to his love!