RETURN to ME: Reading With the People of God #16Sýnishorn

What Kind of Soil Are You?
Today’s readings invite us to pause and ask honest, searching questions. In Hosea 8, God exposes the emptiness of a religion built on self-made altars and forgotten covenants. Israel cries out to God—but only after going their own way. It’s a haunting picture of what happens when worship loses its roots in relationship.

Then Jesus tells a story—a farmer scattering seed on different kinds of soil. Some hear the Word, but it never takes root. Others grow quickly but fade when trouble comes. Only the good soil receives the Word deeply and bears lasting fruit (Mark 4:1–20).

So here’s the question: What kind of soil are you today? Are God’s words falling on a distracted heart? A tired one? A receptive one?

These readings aren’t meant to shame, but to stir our curiosity and draw us near. God’s invitation to “return to Me” is for every kind of soil—because He still plants, still speaks, and still desires fruit to grow in you.

Today, come with curiosity. Ask what kind of heart you’re bringing to God’s Word—and invite Him to make it soft again.