Pumpkins
“Being Christian is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes off all the dirt. Then He cuts the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Last, He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see!” – Megan Gosnell Godbee
‘Tis the season to start to carve pumpkins and set up all those Halloween decorations. Many pumpkins turn out to just be smiley faces but there are many that are more elaborate then just a face. Pumpkin carving is not an easy process to go through to get a great result. This analogy between pumpkins and Christians is spot on.
God chooses us to be Christians and to be with Him in life, just like picking a pumpkin from a patch. It is hard work. None are perfect even if you look hard and long. Sometimes you need help to find the right pumpkin, but once you find one, it is the best one, because it is yours. This is the same with God choosing us; he takes a long time, along with the help of people like our parents and pastors. We are than picked to become a child of God and become special because God picks us no matter what our flaws are.
While we wash off the pumpkin’s dirt, God washes us. I view this as us being baptized. Once we are picked we get baptized with the water and the word.
We have to remove all the yucky stuff from the pumpkin after we cut the top off. This is always the messiest part because it gets everywhere: on your arms and on the table and sometimes some of it ends up on the floor. This is when God removes all the bad in us. Our sins are removed, and we are forgiven, revealing the parts that are needed for the end results. God will take out all the doubt we have about anything and ourselves, the hate we have for others, and the greed we have toward stuff we want rather then need.
At the end, after all the dirty work is done, we get to carve a beautiful face in the pumpkin and let it shine for others to see. God puts the final touches on us and helps us have a positive attitude and encourages us to put on a smiling face. Then God shows us off to the world. He allows us to put ourselves out there and share our talents with those around us.
We are like pumpkins. We are the pumpkins and the carver is God. He carves our lives and makes us new. He is amazing.
Abbie Haller