God-shaped Lives

Paul’s second missionary journey is under way and for the first time the Gospel is taken to Europe–first to Macedonia, the Roman province of northern Greece. The Holy Spirit directly intervenes to ensure that Paul hears loud and clear the importance of going there (7-10). The significance of this has unfolded over the centuries, as Europe became the first Christian continent and the main base for missionary outreach to the rest of the world (John Stott, The Message of Acts).

One place they stopped in was Philippi, a Roman colony and leading city, where many retired legionnaires from the Roman army had settled, but there were few Jewish residents. It needed a quorum of ten men for a synagogue, so the group of women praying outside suggests that there was no synagogue; in such circumstances the Jews would normally meet for prayer at an outdoor location near running water. Again, Paul and his companions take the initiative in going to where people would naturally be, with a Gospel that spoke to those from all walks of life, in this instance to a prosperous business woman. Note that they went beyond just communicating a message and actually spent time with her. They accepted her hospitality, which in Middle Eastern terms meant sharing something of her life.

Lydia was already spiritually open, and God invited the apostles, as he invites us today, to join in with what he was already doing. This involves being actively open to the Holy Spirit’s prompting, inquiring of him what he invites us to do in each situation and seeking to live our lives responsively to him. This isn’t easy in our busy preoccupied lifestyles, but it is fundamental to the adventure of faith and having an increasingly God-shaped life.

Ask God to give you wisdom today about how you should respond to the many decisions and choices before you.