Looking for Worshipers

Years ago, I had a little parakeet named Popcorn, who was a smart little bird. I would open the door to his cage, stand across the room, and call his name, and he would fly over and land on my shoulder. He would just sit there and happily chirp away.

One day, I was at Balboa Island in Newport Beach and saw a guy with a big parrot on his shoulder. I noticed the parrot just sat there and never flew away, even though his wings weren’t clipped and he wasn’t on a leash. I actually talked to the guy about it and was very impressed. So I thought, I am going to do that with Popcorn. I went home, put Popcorn on my shoulder, and we walked through the house. He just sat there. Then I opened the door and walked outside. Popcorn flew off, and I never saw him again. I searched and searched for him for days.

God is searching for people who want to worship Him. He is searching for people who want to grow spiritually. Jesus said, "But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way" (John 4:23).

Jesus told a story called the Parable of the Sower, which is a parable about spiritual growth and how people respond to the Word of God. The bottom line is that we decide what kind of soil our hearts will have by the way we hear God’s Word. We determine whether or not the soil of our hearts will be responsive.

So if you want to grow spiritually, you will. And if you don’t want to grow spiritually, you won’t. It is as simple as that.