Text: Acts 16:11-15, Philippians 1:3-11, Hebrews 13:2, 1 Peter 4:9
When I was in my twenties,
I adopted an unwritten motto: Life is short, make it beautiful. I loved
the idea of making things pretty, and most often my design palette was my
house.
In my first house on Highland Hills Drive, I chose soft white
walls and the palest carpet. For my kitchen, I picked a soothing,
creamy-colored tile for the floors and an equally light countertop. I saw my
house as a blank canvas on which to create a beautiful life.
However, the house on Highland Hills was also a home to my
family. My husband Will and I had three small children at the time and a black
lab named Mike. I guess I don’t have to tell you that the people in my life
(and Mike) often managed to inadvertently wreck my motto.
When my kids had friends over, I was endlessly wiping up the
muddy footprints that inevitably landed on my ‘beautiful’ creamy tile floors.
Small, smudgy fingerprints always marked those light countertops. And the
carpet? Well, that carpet was a daily maintenance issue for me.
Since I carried such high expectations for my house, it was a
really big deal to have people over—after all, there was so much to clean and
pretty! Will often had to get the kids out of the house just so I could make
things ‘beautiful’ again. House cleaning, table setting, candle lighting: I
thought those were the necessary components of hospitality.
Hospitality involved menu planning, grocery trips, and lots of cooking. It was hard, it took a lot of time, and it was utterly exhausting. I thought hospitality was just another word for entertaining—a platform to show off a beautiful life.
On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a
riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down
to speak with some women who had gathered there. One of them was Lydia from
Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she
listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was
saying. She was baptized along with other members of her household, and she
asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the
Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.
(Acts 16:13-15 NLT)
I’ve wondered a lot about Lydia. As a “merchant of expensive
purple cloth,” she was likely a woman with a strong aesthetic (v.14). Who
knows? Maybe she even had a ‘Life is short, make it beautiful’ motto, like me.
Yet, here in Scripture, she is recognized not for a lovely home but for her
open heart. Lydia was attuned to God, not her ideals.
Lydia was a new believer, her heart recently captured by the
beauty of the Gospel of Jesus as she listened to the disciples that day. Not
only her, but her whole household received the Gospel along with her! And immediately
after “the Lord opened her heart,” Lydia opened her home, insisting that Paul
and Silas stay with her. Notice how she asks: “If you agree that I am a true
believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home” (v.15).
The quality that made Lydia worthy of hosting her guests was not
the condition of her home, but the condition of her heart. Lydia had met Jesus, repented of her sin, and believed. Her
status as a child of God was all that mattered; any beauty beyond that was just
a bonus.
Friends, let’s pray and ask God to open our hearts to Him. Let’s
pray and ask God to keep our focus on His people. And let’s look for ways to
spontaneously celebrate what God is doing with His people in our lives and in
our homes. Because life is short … and God is beautiful.
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