John 6:65 – The Message – He went on to say, “This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.”

I love to study the various translations of the New Testament. Each translation has the ability to hone in on different aspects of a verse as they tend to explore the various shades of meaning often lost in translation. In this verse the Message Bible uses the word gift from the Greek word didomi. Other translations often use the word grant rather than gift. This version may get a little closer to what Jesus was saying, He was describing conversion or saving faith as a gift given by God. He draws us in by His grace and causes us to drink from His wells of life. Here is how
Augustine describes this verse.

“He teaches us that even the act of believing is by way of being a gift and not a matter of merit: “As I told you,” he says, “no one can come to me but whoever has been given it by my Father.” If we call to mind the earlier part of the Gospel, we shall discover where the Lord said this. We shall find that he said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me drags him.” He did not say “leads” but “drags.” This violence happens to the heart, not to the flesh. So why be surprised? Believe, and you come; love, and you are dragged. Do not regard this violence as harsh and irksome; on the contrary, it is sweet and pleasant. It is the very pleasantness of the thing that drags you to it. Isn’t a sheep dragged, or drawn irresistibly, when it is hungry and grass is shown to it? And I presume it is not being moved by bodily force but pulled by desire.”

Sometimes we may need a little ‘dragging’ from the Lord in order to help us to enjoy the benefits that He has provided for us in Christ. Like Augustine’s example of dragging a sheep, we are God’s sheep and sometimes we have no idea what we are missing until He brings us into places we would never go on our own. We are easily distracted grazing in the pastures of the world when He wants to bring us to His waters of refreshing and rest.