PumpkinPatchParable

The farmer grew many different things in his fields. He grew tall green corn and big red tomatoes...long yellow squash and little green peas. People eat that stuff for dinner.

"I am the true vine, my Father is the gardener." John 15:1

The farmer especially loved to grow pumkins. In June, the farmer planted him pumkin seeds, just like he did every summer. The seeds disappeared into the ground in nead rows and grew there in the dark, all through the Forth of July.

"This is what the story means: The seed is God's teaching." Luke 8:11

From each seed, a tiny green shoot slowly poked its way out of the soil. Soon, long green vines stretched across the ground. Their leaves opened wide to catch the August sun. From those vines, tiny buds sprouted into little pumpkins. The pumkins began to grow. How different they looked! Some were tall and lean. Some were short and round. Some had lumps and bumps. They were all pumpkins.

"My hand made all things. All things are here becuase I made them," says the Lord." Isaiah 66:2

October came at last. Every night grew dark earlier than the night before, and the farmer knew it was harvest time. His workers brought in the ripe pumpkins. Which one would the farmer choose?

"Open your eyes. Look at the fields that are ready for harvesting now." John 4:35The farmer picked up one large pumkin, taking great care. Pumkins are tough on the outside but break into smitherines if dropped. He washed off all the dirt, holding on tight.

"Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away." Acts 22:16

Next came the messy part. The pumpkin was filled with seeds and slimy pulp. The farmer had a special plan for his chosen pumpkin, so the seeds adn slime would have to go.

"Create in me a pure heart, God." Psalm 51:10

He slowly slid in his knife and cut all the way around the top of the pumpkin. Gently, he pulled the stem, and it came off like a lid.
"God's word is alive and working. It is sharper than a sword sharpened on both sides. It cuts all the way into us...And God's word judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts." Hebrews 4:12

The farmer looked inside. Squishy, stringy pulp waited for him...yuck!

"I am the Lord, and I can look into a person's heart." Jeremiah 17:10

The farmer carved a triangle for each eye. Pumpkins have eyes that don'e blink or turn away. They see everything!

"The eye is a light for the body. If your eyes are good, then your whole body will be full of light." Matthew 6:22

He neatly made a little square for the nose, and then he carved a big, w-i-d-e smile.

"Happiness makes a person smile." Proverbs 15:13

The farmer put a small candle inside his pumpkin and touched the wick with a flame. How that pumkin glowed!

"God once said, "Let the light shine out of the darkness!" And this is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts." 2 Corinthians 4:6

The pumkin on the porch shone brightly for everyone to see. When people saw the smiling pumpkin, they all smiled back!

"In the same way, you should be the light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do. Live so that they will praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16

All the neighbors knew that, once again, the farmer had turned a simple pumpkin into a simply glorious sight. In the same way, God the Father offers His children the chance to be made new, full of joy an full of light, shining like the stars in a dark world.

"If anyone belongs to Christ, then he is made new. The old things have gone; everything is made new!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

"The Pumpkin Patch Parable"

by Liz Curtis Higgs