Acts 16:9-15 (NRSV)
Read Acts 16:9-15 on biblegateway.com
Verse 9During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." Verse 10When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. Verse 11We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, Verse 12and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. Verse 13On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. Verse 14A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. Verse 15When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.
Devotion
God's care for all people is so great that we have the challenge to reach out beyond our area of comfort. Paul faced that challenge. Paul was not afraid to go to new places, but here he was called to go to another continent in the unknown to share the gospel.
When he left Asia for Europe he crossed an important barrier. Not only did he cross a geographical barrier, but he crossed gender and cultural barriers too. He brought Christ’s news to Lydia and her family with spoken words of witness to Christ and the visible word of baptism.
His whole ministry had been dedicated to crossing the boundaries of Judaism with the message of Christ. Here he crossed a number of comfort zones for the sake of the gospel. Do we? What areas of comfort does God call us to cross for the sake of witnessing to Christ?
Prayer
Gracious Lord, work in us through your Holy Spirit so that we do not let our comfort prevent us from responding to your call to reach out to others. Amen.