I Knocked, but You Did Not Hear

If I try to stop any car on the street, I can say with certainty that music will be playing in almost all automobiles. It will be different in meaning and volume, but it will be there. Such listening to music and radio programs has become an artificial filler of consciousness for many people, without which most can no longer imagine their existence in this world.

God, for His part, desires to fill my mind with His melody of love, so that it sounds in my heart like beautiful music on the strings of my soul, filling all the space of my perception and spreading its fragrance to the surrounding world.

A battle between good and evil is taking place for the human mind, and the epicenter of this battle is located between my right and left ear.

God has made my salvation so simple and easy that if I just show my interest and begin searching in this direction, I will find what will bring peace to my soul.

Wherever I am on Earth, and whichever path I choose, I will always come to the world ocean washing the continents. Similarly, God's love surrounds us from all sides, and whatever direction of life I choose, I will always eventually meet it. Only it is unknown on which side of the barricades I will find myself at that moment?

Love is a combination of mercy and justice. By choosing God's plan of salvation, I find myself under His mercy; by choosing another life path, I will meet God's justice and taste the fruits of what I have sown throughout my life.

The Lord calls, knocks, seeks, and waits for those who will hear and open.

I learned from the pastor that Christ wants to enter the house of my heart. And I prepared for this meeting. I did a wet cleaning in the rooms, bought delicacies for dinner, hid all indecent things in secret places, swept extra garbage under the carpet. I selected romantic music for the background of our communication and sat waiting for my dear Friend. To pass the waiting time, I turned on the TV, chose my favorite channel, and while watching the development of events in a talk show, began to think about the beautiful Eternity awaiting me in the near future. Minutes, hours, days, weeks passed, but my Friend did not come. Strange.

During this time, I understood that television imposes its programs on me, and on the internet, I can choose what I want to see and hear. Very quickly, I learned to find my favorite films and songs, and my life simply did not have enough time for all this. I even started taking time from sleep. And if I turned on computer games, I completely lost the reality of time and was busy with them from morning to morning.

I wonder, if Jesus came to me during these activities, how would He evaluate this? Somewhere in my soul, I understand that something is not right with me, but I will wait until the Lord shows me this Himself.

It's strange that He has not come for so long. But I can read about Him.

I read, delve in, discover many things for myself, begin to see amazing things. I try to pray. It works. And here I decided to ask Him in prayer why He still has not come to my house, although I am ready for this visit. In a dream, the Lord answered me: "I knocked, but you did not hear. I called you by name, but your television was louder." I woke up in a cold sweat. What should I do? Jesus is never wrong. But how to live in silence? I decided to replace all my songs and films with Christian ones. I began collecting everything from the internet that is filmed and sung about Christ. I listen, watch, wait for Jesus, but He still does not come. I found Christian computer games, and now I play and learn the truth. Something begins to settle in my head.

But Jesus still has not come to me.

What else can I do good so that He considers it an honor to come to my house. I need to surprise Him. I know! I'll take money and gifts to an orphanage. This will surely attract Heaven's attention to me. I did it. Again, silence.

Most likely, I misunderstood something.

But the message about the desired visit of Christ does not give me peace. I want to understand the reason, what I am doing wrong. Maybe something is within me.

I decide to personally ask Christ why He did not come to visit me.

I begin to pray. I ask for the gift of repentance and understanding. The Lord again gives me a revelation in a dream: "I knocked, but you did not hear."

I am completely confused. I decided not to watch or play anything. I sit and wait. I hear a quiet knock. I do not pay attention – God does not knock like this. The knock repeats. I'll see who is there. I approach the door and hear a quiet voice calling me by name. I open the door, and Jesus is there. I invite Him into the house and immediately to the table. I begin to tell Him about everything I have seen and listened to these days. But the Lord sadly stated that all this time, while I was busy with myself, He was knocking and calling to enter. I am beyond surprise. How so? And He explained that while my mind receives food from another source, God can do nothing for me. The Lord will not share His place with the world. But I am not going into the world, just sitting at home and observing what is happening. Is this bad? And Jesus makes me understand that my mind is like a vessel. Whatever is put into it, that is what will lie there. And nothing else will fit into a full jug. My vessel is filled with everything indiscriminately.

I decide to cleanse my heart from the dirt of this world. I find training on this topic. I learn. I make incredible efforts. I will prove to everyone that I can also do something for my purity.

But I notice strange things. I try to forget everything I once watched and listened to, and it constantly resurfaces in my memory and beckons to me. I think about the good, but evil scenes from favorite films are remembered every time I need to make the right decision, and I get lost in guesses about what is truly right. After all, my favorite actors so realistically presented a solution to all problems by a short path that I sometimes do not dare to choose God's path because it is so difficult and narrow, and there are so many dangers and pitfalls on it. But I so want to be in Eternity. They say that heavenly music constantly sounds there.

Oh, music! This is a separate world. I simply cannot live without it. Life loses its beauty. Music so captivates me with its notes and captures my consciousness, immersing me in a world of sensual pleasures and memories. I am so used to living like this. And there are those who say that not all music is useful. They understand nothing. However, I am curious what Christ likes. How to understand His taste? I'll ask Him about this.

Again, I see a dream with only two completely different sources of music. One is pure, melodic, which attracts to reflections about Heaven, sings about God's love for people, and the second contains everything indiscriminately and even includes elements of Divine harmony to attract inexperienced minds and capture them in its nets. Who will save me from this web? I have so confused my mind that I can no longer do anything myself.

I call Jesus for help. I promise not to watch or listen to anything unclean, remove all this garbage from my house. I cry from powerlessness. I understand that I can no longer change anything in myself, but I believe in the One who Is Love and can do more than I imagine. I give my will into His hands and begin to learn new melodies of love. An unknown world opens up to me.

Reflection Questions for this Chapter

1. Was something new revealed to you in this chapter?

2. What prevents Jesus from coming into my life?

3. Why does the Lord respect my choice and not impose His blessings?

4. Does music affect my spiritual health? How to distinguish bad music from good?

5. Does Jesus knock on every heart?

6. Does Jesus enter everyone who expects Him in the house of their heart?

7. Please read Revelation 3:20; Luke 23:8-9; Ecclesiastes 2:8,11; Philippians 4:8 in light of this chapter.