“No one can come to me [Jesus] unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:44 ESV

Peace. Love. “Jesus freaks.” If you were around in the late 60s and early 70s, you are familiar with these words. The Jesus Movement, considered the fourth great awakening in the United States, ignited in California during this time, and exploded across the country, including Boulder, Colorado, where I lived until my mid-twenties. This movement was characterized by youthful counter-cultural transients. On the opposite side of the spectrum was conservative Billy Graham and his crusades. My family avoided and resisted both. We worshipped the Rocky Mountains.

I judged the “religious.” My heart was as cold as old, damp firewood.  Well-meaning students in high school attempted to share the love of Jesus with me, but I turned them away. 

Later in college, I had similar experiences and rejected those Christ-followers. A tinge of curiosity struck me from time to time, but my life course was set—at least until I accepted an invitation to a Campus Crusade for Christ (now known as Cru) concert in the dormitory commons. A clear and nonconfrontational presentation of the good news of Jesus penetrated and sparked my dead spirit. 

Draw in Greek, as used in John 6:44, surprisingly signifies to drag, as used of dragging a net into a boat, but this dragging is not violent and God does it with supernatural power. Consider this verse:  … I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness (Jeremiah 31:3 NIV). The Father pursues us and “pulls” us to himself by the quickening of the Holy Spirit, and then it is our responsibility to receive him for eternal life. 

Heavenly Father, thank you for drawing me to yourself when I was so far from you. It took several attempts for you to captivate my heart, but you did! I was dead to you and you made me alive in Christ!

Karen Sims