Where Do You Stay?

I read a story recently that intrigued me and seems to be trying to inform my living.

The story comes from the book of John in the Bible. In it, John the Baptist has just pointed out to two of Jesus’ disciples that Jesus is passing by. “Look!” John cries out. Jesus sees them following behind, turns to them, and asks, “What are you looking for?”

Their answer is what most intrigues me, maybe because I know what I’m looking for, all of the why’s and how’s and what to do’s I’d like answers to. Yet, they simply ask, “Where are you staying?”

In the Greek, however, the word “staying” connotes something more than an Airbnb. The Greek meaning of “staying” is “abiding” and points the heart and imagination more toward anchor than location.

Jesus invites them to come and see, and then it is written, “They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day.” They came and saw, and remained.

Understanding this to mean more an anchor than a location, I read this as “They came and saw what he was anchored in, and they remained anchored with him, too.”