The Kiss of the Savior

When I speak in a crusade, I often search my vocabulary for words to express that supernatural sensation, the moment when Jesus stepped in and changed my life. But I have yet to do it justice. The best way I have found is through a simple analogy.

I tell people that I felt as if I were on an operating table, cold and angry and confused, and Jesus was the surgeon standing over me. My heart was broken. He gently reached over and closed my eyes, and then He opened up my chest, reached deep inside of me, and pulled my heart out. He held it in His hands, a heart filled with hatred and anger and bitterness that consumed me — the brokenness of my past and the curse that was destroying my life and soul.

Jesus slowly took my heart, brought it to His lips, and kissed it. He caressed it and mended the wounds. Then He placed it back inside my chest and closed me up. I knew in an instant that I was better, that my heart was no longer broken. At that moment I knew I was a new creation. I had a new heart — a heart of love and compassion and repentance. All the feelings of hate and resentment were gone. My sins were forgiven and at long last I was free!

I still fight back tears every time I use this analogy. The moment Jesus came into my heart and saved me is the most cherished experience of my life. Before that time no one had every kissed my heart. It was what I needed most from my new Father.

Thank you, precious Jesus!

Nicky Cruz, internationally known evangelist and prolific author, turned to Jesus Christ from a life of violence and crime after meeting David Wilkerson in New York City in 1958. The story of his dramatic conversion was told first in The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson and then later in his own best-selling book Run, Baby, Run.