Since Jesus Came Into My Heart

Rufus McDaniel was a lifelong Christian. Born on this day in 1850, he pastored several churches throughout Ohio and wrote more than 100 hymns. In 1913, he experienced the tragic death of his son, Herschel. As he had done so often, he sought to express his thoughts in a hymn: “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart.”

The words can seem as though they were written by a new Believer. Yet, dealing with a tragedy, McDaniel wrote how “a wonderful change in my life has been wrought.” How light had come into his soul, and he had “ceased from my wandering and going astray.” How his sins were “washed away.”

Jesus had given him a “steadfast and sure” hope. Doubts were gone, and instead “there’s a light in the valley of death now for me.” He even had hope for the future as he could see “the gates of the City beyond.”

McDaniel knew he would “go there to dwell in that City.” Perhaps thinking about his son, this thought made him “happy, so happy, as onward I go.” He repeated, with certainty, that “floods of joy o’er my soul like the sea billows roll, since Jesus came into my heart.”

Lives change when Jesus comes into our hearts. Rufus McDaniel knew this. And so did Zacchaeus. He was a tax collector, hated by the common people and called “a notorious sinner.” Yet Jesus completely changed his life and brought him “great excitement and joy.”

Do you know anyone who is troubled? Who needs help? Who needs salvation? Remember: Jesus still changes lives. He can transform not only your life, but also those you love.