Life Lessons from a Pumpkin

Fall has arrived with it’s showers of leaves, splashes of tree bound color, and pumpkins. Nothing says fall quite like pumpkins.

Pumpkins come in many varieties and each is as unique as the individuals on this planet. Some are tall and slim. Others are short and plump. There are even tiny pumpkins we can hold in the palm of our hand. Colors vary from opaque to bold and every shade in between. We love pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice. Jack-O-Lanterns are also very nice.

With a plethora of uses lets explore how this homegrown decoration might teach us some life lessons in faith.

The pumpkin has no control over the patch in which it will       develop.

I know we as humans like to think we are in control. But I bet no one can take credit for picking their parents or the place of their birth. God made those choices for us and He did it before the foundation of the world!

The pumpkin must change to improve itself.

Alone and unaltered a pumpkin is a thing of beauty. However, it will have to undergo some major changes to be transformed into anything other than a pumpkin.

This is also true for people. Our bodies are made in the image of God and therefore are a thing of beauty in their own right. But, beauty fades as time passes and we were not placed on Planet Earth to just sit around and look pretty. We will have to undergo some changes to fulfill the purpose for which God created us.

The pumpkin does not have the power to transform itself into anything else.

We can change our hair color, get a better education or pay for cosmetic surgery. But, at the end of the day all we have done is change our outward appearance and increased our knowledge on a particular subject. We are still the same person on the inside. Even changing our behavior doesn’t really change who we are deep down. Changing behavior only teaches us how to manage the true feelings and produce them in a  form that is acceptable to the world around us. It doesn’t change how we really feel.

God is the only One who is powerful enough to actually change the person we are deep down on the inside. We should be thankful He loves us enough to want to make these changes for us.

Since the pumpkin can not carve itself or become a pumpkin pie on its own it is going to need a little help from its creator. We think and plan and alter the pumpkin the way we see fit. We bought it. We changed it. We basically own it. We are the creator.

God is our creator. He bought us with the blood of Jesus Christ. He formed us in our mothers womb. He has every right to decide who He wants us to be and how he wants to use us. We need His help to be anything other than a sinful human.

The guts of a pumpkin cannot be seen without first letting in some light.

When we carve a pumpkin the first thing we do is cut an opening in the top so we can remove the guts. Notice that you can’t see the guts unless the top is removed to let the light shine inside.

Our guts or sin will not be exposed without the Light of Jesus Christ. His light penetrates our soul and reveals the wretched heart we really possess. Our heart is full of sin and wickedness. Once Christ Light has been allowed inside of our heart then we will see clearly the sin that lingers there.

The only way to allow Christ inside our heart is to admit we are full of sin. We need Jesus to help us remove that sin so we can then have a relationship with God the Father. Once the relationship is in place then God will begin to change us into someone better. If we will let Him He will change us from an unchanged pumpkin with no light to a Jack-O-Lantern shining brightly illuminating everything around us.

The guts of the pumpkin must be removed before improvements can take place.

Our sin is like the guts of a pumpkin. God is holy and righteous. He is not like us. Sin is not doing things God’s way. Many people do not know what sin is because they have never been exposed to the Light. Because we sin we cannot have a relationship with God. Without the relationship we can not change to be someone who pleases God.

What kind of pumpkin are you? Does the Light of Jesus shine brightly within you or have you closed yourself off from His Light?