Opening the Heart

“Now a certain woman named Lydia heard [us].

She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God.

The Lord *opened her heart* to heed the things spoken by Paul. 

  And when she and her household were baptized…”

Acts 16:14-15

God “opened” Lydia’s “heart” to heed Paul’s words. 

To “open the heart” is a figure of speech.   What does it mean?  The idea is to help or enable to understand.  Its not the believing itself but the ability to understand. 

Luke 24:32 uses the word with reference to the risen Christ speaking the Scriptures to the disciples on the Emmaus Road.  The account of Philip and the Ethiopian has the same idea, see Acts 8:28-38.

To “open” is to allow one to see what’s inside, so to speak.  To open the heart is like opening the eyes—to see what’s there to be seen.  God could do this in some direct supernatural way, or He could do it by someone comparing or explaining Scripture with Scripture.

The issue is often whether one wants to understand-- do they want to see?  

Lydia was someone who was sincere in her belief in God and was open to know the truth about how to be right with God, how to have eternal life.

This is a case of “to whoever has, more will be given”:   Matthew 13:10:19.

She heeded the things spoken by Paul:  she responded positively to the gospel.