The Dells use to sing a song, "I'm going to open up my heart this morning and see if I can help a friend." Some of you old school people may remember it.
"The Lord opened her heart" Acts 16:14
In the book of Acts you are introduced to a woman of means, Lydia. The above text reads that "The Lord opened her heart." She did not open her own heart. Her prayers did not do it; Paul did not do it. The Lord Himself must open the heart, to receive the things which make for our peace. He alone can put the key into the hole of the door and open it, and get admittance for Himself. he is the heart's master just as He is the heart's maker. The first outward evidence of the opened heart was obedience. As soon as Lydia had believed in Jesus, she was baptized. It is a sweet sign of a humble and broken heart, when the child of God is willing to obey a command which is not essential to his or her salvation, which is not forced upon him or her by a selfish fear of condemnation, but is a simple act of obedience and of communion with the Master. The next evidence was love, manifesting itself in acts of grateful kindness to the apostles. To the saints love has always been a mark of the true convert. Those who do nothing for Christ or His church, show little evidence of an "opened" heart. Lord, constantly give us an opened heart.
Rev. Dr. Charles Spurgeon
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