Readings
Job 41:1-11
Acts 16:6-15
John 12:9-19
Meditation
Paul is trying to go north, but the Spirit won’t let him. Instead it tells him to go west. And being Paul, he heads for the center, to Philippi, the leading city of the region and a Roman colony. If you read Paul’s letter to the Phillipians you soon recognize that the church at Philippi is a great place. Paul is not correcting the church as with the Corinthians or Galatians. Instead, Paul encourages and takes joy in a faithful assembly. He also gives thanks for the Philipians financial support of his ministry. Unbidden, they had sent Paul in prison money. It is a code word of blessing among minister, may you have lots of Philipians among your assembly.
In Acts we get the account of the first convert – Lydia, a seller of purple. Lydia must have been some woman. Proverbs 31:10-31 spings to mind just from these few lines. She sold purple, an expensive dye and a high risk business. It says that when she was baptized, her household was baptized with her. And she prevails upon Pual to stay at her house. The NLT translates it – “she urged us until we agreed.” With such an accomplished person leading the church, it is not a stretch to see Philipi later as Paul’s joy.
One other thought that comes out of this passage is where Pual & Silas go. They go to the river where they think people will meet for prayer. They go to where people gather and speak to the women gathered there. Where do people gather for spiritual things today? Churches are one place, but curiously Paul is not said to go to the synagog or to the temple. (Although this gathering for prayer could be because of the smallness of the Jewish community. 10 were required for a synagog – a minyan and they may not have that number.) Does our society have such places, or are we so materialist that we have completely divorced ourselves from hearing the Spirit?
May the Lord grant to you a place for prayer and the ability to hear the Spirit.
