Lydia "In Her Own Words"



Hello and good day, let me introduce myself; my name is Lydia and I'd like to thank all of you who have taken the time to read my story. I was born in Thyatira of Macedonia but because of my trade, after my parents died, I moved to Philippi which was the chief city of that part of Macedonia and the most prosperous city to ply my trade.

My father was head of the dyer's guild in Thyatira which is where we cultivated the murex. Murex is an ocean mollusk which from the shells we obtained the purple dye which is so prized by royalty and the very rich of the known world. Father taught me everything about how to obtain the purple dye and how to use it to dye cloth, leather and many other things that he sold. I became a much respected business woman of Macedonia which required a lot of traveling to sell my merchandise. I owned a large estate in Philippi and had many servants. I was mostly known as a seller of purple by the general population but my customers knew me as an honest and forthright person.

My honesty came from my father's teachings that honored and worshipped the one God who had created the world. He taught me about the God of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac, the God of the Israelites who he learned of through his business dealings and who had given him a Torah. My father was a gentle and wise man but very strict when it came to living his life to honor the one God. My father would often quote to me from the book of Proverbs which he called the book of wisdom. I shall always remember him quoting "a gracious woman retaineth honor." I read from the book of Proverbs often when I think of father, especially when I'm troubled or have an important decision to make.



My father died before he could see the coming of the promised "Messiah" but I have heard the talk of the Nazarene who made the blind to see and the lame to walk, the one who claimed to be the Son of God and performed many miracles. My father knew of all the prophecies written about the coming "Messiah" and prayed daily he would live to see Him but alas my father died from heart problems at the age of sixty soon after my mother died. He had poured all the love and wisdom he had upon me because I was their only child. When he died it was left up to me to carry on his name and his business.

There were not many religious people in Philippi except those Greeks who worship Apollos or Athena as a lot of Greeks do. I would gather the few women in Philippi who knew of the one God and we would go down to the riverside on the Sabbath to pray and sing praises to the one true God. It was during one such Sabbath that Paul and his friends came to teach us about the "Messiah" this Jesus the Christ, the one who performed miracles and who the religious leaders in Jerusalem had demanded the Romans put him on a wooden cross and crucify. But Paul told us of how He was brought back to life in three days and seen by hundreds of people and all of the Apostles and Paul told how this same Jesus had knocked him off his horse and blinded him on his way to Damascus. Paul was a great teacher and I knew in my heart I wanted to give my live to Jesus and live with Him forever in heaven. Paul told us that we should all be baptized in the river to show how we had accepted Jesus into our hearts; every one in my household was baptized and became members of "the Way."



Since I had a large home and wanted to do something to help, I offered my home to Paul and his friends and my home became the first Christian Church in Philippi. We saw many people come to know the Christ and find true joy in their lives. What a wonderful feeling it was to belong to Jesus and He blessed my home and life so greatly.

Then one day they arrested Paul and Silas and put them in prison but God saved them and the jailer also. When they released them they came back to my house to comfort us and set things right so the church could continue in Philippi. We followed all the instructions and teachings of Paul and Luke and the Lord added to the church daily those He had chosen for His own. We set our hearts to follow Jesus and be faithful although we suffered much persecution in the days that followed. The Lord continued to bless my business and the church grew so large we had to build a building for all the followers.

What a wonderful life the Lord has given me, allowing me to serve Him faithfully. I pray my life will show for generations to come or until the Christ returns for us how God can bless and use any woman to bring glory to Himself through our faithfulness. Always remember: "a gracious woman retaineth honor."

Bob Goulding © December 2006
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