It was then that I understood spiritually, as well as intellectually, that Jesus loved me enough to come and die on the cross that I might have forgiveness of my sins if I accepted His sacrifice and invited Him to come into my heart.

It was the moment when I went from accepting Jesus as THE Savior to accepting Him as MY SaIvior personally.

My life changed at that moment, and I have had a personal relationship with Jesus from that day forward. There have been far too many moments in the ensuing years when I have not been everything He would have me to be, but there has never been one moment when He has not been everything He has promised He would be—and more. To quote Alfred Lord Tennyson, “Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.”

Did I understand everything as a small child? No, and I don’t understand everything now. In fact, in some ways, I understand less now than I did ten years ago, and I perceive that as a sign of maturity. However, I understood enough—the essentials. I understood I was a sinner (knowingly doing, saying and thinking those things that I should neither do, say nor think) and that God loved me enough to send Jesus to die on the cross and that Jesus was willing to come and endure that cross to secure salvation for me and for all who would accept His sacrifice.

The great 20th-century theologian, Karl Barth, said it best when he was asked to summarize his studies and beliefs. His answer: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."