Paul and Silas took a young preacher named Timothy with them on their travels.
Timothy's mother was a Jewish woman who was a believer in Jesus, and his father
was a Greek.

As they traveled, the Holy Spirit would guide them and tell them where to go next.
One night while they were in Troas (TRO az), Paul had a vision. A man from
Macedonia (mass uh DOAN ee uh) was begging him to come over to Macedonia
to help them. The Spirit was guiding them again.

Immediately they got ready and left. It was a long trip by ship from Troas to Macedonia.
They arrived at Philippi, which was a Roman colony and one of the largest cities in
Macedonia.

They stayed several days. Then they heard that a group of people met by the river
to worship on the Sabbath day, so they went outside the city gate to the meeting place.
They sat down and began to speak to the women who were gathered there to pray.
One of them was a woman named Lydia who was from the city of Thyatira
(thigh uh TIRE uh), which was in a district east of Macedonia. She was a dealer who
sold purple cloth.

Purple cloth was very expensive. The reason it was so costly was that it was difficult
to make. The dye for the cloth came from a shellfish. The juice was white while it was
in the veins of the fish, but when it was exposed to the sun, the liquid changed into bright
purple and red colors. It took a lot of work to catch enough shellfish to dye even one
garment.

The beautiful cloth was mainly used by members of the royal families and Roman senators
who were required to have a purple band around the edge of their togas, or robes.

As Paul preached, the Lord opened the heart of Lydia to receive the message about Jesus.
She believed his words and responded to the teaching. She and the members of her
household were baptized.

We don't know if she was married, or single, or a widow. She probably had people
working for her in her business since she was a merchant.

She told the men if they considered her a believer in the Lord, she would like for
them to come and stay at her house. Evidently she had plenty of room to accommodate
the four of them; Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke was also with them. She continued
to urge them and they accepted her invitation and stayed at her house.

Lydia's heart was like the good soil in the parable of the sower. When she heard the
word of God, she received it with joy and obeyed the words of the apostle.

                                                Memory Verse
Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
                                                                                 Romans 12:13