Jesus Making His Home In You | John 1:38 Devotional

“Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’” —JOHN 1:38

In the above verse, Jesus was talking to Andrew and another disciple who started to follow Him after John the Baptist declared, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36) “What do you want?” is a question Jesus asked on several occasions and it is an important question we need to ask ourselves. In our relationship with Jesus, what do we actually want? Maybe we just want our sin forgiven and our consciences made clean, which is good and valid, but as true Christians is that all we really want?

The disciples’ response is an interesting one. They asked Jesus, “Where are you staying?” (1:38) This seems way down on the scale of important things to be wanting. They have at last identified the Messiah who asks them directly, “What do you want?”, and at first glance our interpretation of their response is in effect saying, “Hey, Jesus, where is it You hang your hat?” However, with deeper inspection we see a very profound meaning to their question.

This event took place in Bethany by the Jordan River, which was a long way from where Jesus lived in Galilee. “Come and you will see”, Jesus said to the disciples and brought them to where He was staying. As an itinerant preacher, this was to become the pattern of Jesus. In fact, on one occasion, when a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go,” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). In other words, Jesus was of no fixed abode.

The answer to Andrew’s question comes to a climax in John 14:23 when Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Later, Paul describes our bodies as “a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you” (1 Corinthians 6:19). In the Old Testament, the temple was the place where God lived, but under the New Covenant, as we come to Christ, our bodies become His home.

This is what the heart of the Gospel is about. Our sins are forgiven and we are cleansed in order that we might be indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. The home of Jesus Christ is within the hearts of people who receive Him. As Christians, it is our task to introduce Jesus to those who are lost so that they too may receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and become a home which the Lord Jesus can work in and through.

Dear Lord Jesus, I pray that You make your home in me and fill me with your Spirit. Thank You, Lord. Amen.

What am I looking for in my relationship with Jesus and have I provided a welcoming abode for Him?