God’s calling households(whole families) to Himself Acts 16
Paul had a vision for whole households being saved; we need to recapture this today.
Paul and Silas travelled to the city of Philippi and on the Sabbath ( they used the Sabbath as a point of contact with people, for evangelism) went outside the city to find a place of prayer (apparently no synagogue there). They met Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth… who was a worshipper of God. The Lord ‘opened her heart’ (Lord open hearts today) to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the ‘members of her household’ were baptised….Her whole family were baptised together, public declaration of faith. In the West we belong to a society full of individuals, but in Paul’s day the family was more important. Acts 16:13-15
Paul and Silas were then beaten, V23 stripped and severely flogged, and thrown in prison after the public deliverance of a slave girl. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns… and there was a violent earthquake. At once ALL the prison doors flew open and EVERYBODY’S chains came loose, all the prisoners were freed!(perhaps symbolic of the Spirit).
The outcome was that the jailer came trembling before Paul and Silas and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord… and you will be saved — you and ‘your household’. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house…then immediately he and all his family were baptised(same as Lydia). God allowed His servants to be flogged to send His salvation deep inside a jail so that a family could belong to Him. Most of us would have been crushed by the beating but Paul and Silas kept on worshipping God and another family came to Him.
God used Paul and Silas to reach and bless two families. Ask God to show you which families you can pray for today and speak into for Him. Remind Him of His promises for household salvation(Acts 11:14, Cornelius and his household) and pray for whole families to know Him.
God bless and keep you and make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you today.