How do we determine something’s value? Is it found in the cost of manufacturing the item? Or do we look at the amount of profit we hope for? How about sentiment? Can that add real value to an item?
Take the color purple. How much is purple worth? A moment of our time? A dollar? More?
Purple in the years of the Early Church was valued very highly. It was a symbol of power, authority, and wealth. Purple dyes were made from the murex, a type of marine mollusk. It took 12,000 shellfish to extract 1.5 grams of the pure dye. Only the very rich could afford purple.
In Acts 16:3 Paul and Silas headed into Asia to minister to the believers there. However, God wanted Paul to purchase purple, not minister to the Church in Asia, and the Holy Spirit began slamming doors. Finally, in Acts 16:9, a man from Macedonia appeared to Paul in a vision, pleading for him to come to help those in Macedonia.
That was not Paul’s plan. It was God’s plan. God needed purple, and Paul was his buyer. The cost would be high, and God knew he could trust Paul to pay the price without complaint.
In Macedonia, on one Sabbath beside the river, Paul met Lydia, a prosperous and wealthy gentile businesswoman. She already worshipped God, and when she heard Paul’s message, she believed on the Christ and was baptized in his name.
Lydia was God’s purple. She was a foreigner from Thyatira, the land of the purple dyes. She was an international seller of a very desirable commodity. Lydia carried power and influence.
Yet, the deal was not complete. The full price for God’s purple had not yet been paid.
A demon-possessed girl began following Paul and Silas, and they cast the demon out. The girl’s masters were furious, and in Acts 16:22, the city magistrates had Paul and Silas beaten and thrown into prison, with their arms and legs bound in wooden stocks.
We know the story of the earthquake and the prison doors flying open. However, what is important is how the two men responded before and after the earthquake. They praised the Lord. They witnessed to those around them. They never tried to escape.
The next morning the magistrates learned that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, and in Acts 16:35, they immediately released them. Paul and Silas returned to Lydia’s house for a time, ministering to the brethren. When they were comforted, they departed.
Why was the color purple so important to God? Lydia, who was a seller of purple dyes, was the first European convert to Christianity. She was an international businesswoman with far-flung connections. God used Paul and Silas’ troubles to show her the true meaning of Christianity, that we can walk in faith no matter the troubles that come our way.
Lydia eventually became a Saint in the Church. What better person to light the fuse for the Gospel to explode throughout Europe, and all through one seller of purple.
When doors shut in our faces, God has better doors for us to walk through.
Copyright © 2013 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: E.4.13.vp