Jack-o-lanterns

At some point, we have all gone the pumpkin patch on a cool, crisp fall day, traipsed through the sticky mud to look for a little autumnal friend to bring home and join us in our fall celebrations.

As a Christian, I'm always looking for illustrations to help explain Christ to our children and those around us. And, believe it or not, the pumpkin patch experience is a great way to teach other's about Christ's redemptive work in a Christian's life.

SO, how does an ordinary pumpkin make its transition into an extra-ordinary Jack-o-Lantern?

1. The pumpkin starts out in the dirt, and mud, covered with filth, totally unclean . . . just like us as a sinner.

Isaiah 64:4 "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf and like the wind, our sin sweeps us away."

And, in this state, we are as incapable of cleaning ourselves as that pumpkin is capable of picking itself up off the ground, growing legs, walking to the sink and washing itself off.

BUT!!!

2. Just like the harvester goes to the field to harvest the pumpkin, God comes to us!

John 1:14 "The WORD became flesh and made His dwelling among us."

3. Just as the harvester picks up each pumpkin individually, God comes to us and gathers us from where we are.

Luke 15:4-6 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep."

4. He cuts us off from our old and inadequate attachments, just as the harvester severs the vine of the pumpkin to remove it from the field.

Romans 6:11 "In the same way, count yourselves dead (separated) to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

5. As the harvester gently picks up the pumpkin and cleans the filth off of it, so our Father cleanses us.

Corinthians 6:11 "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justifie in the name of The Lord Jesus Christ and by The Spirit of God."

6. Then, the just as we clean the inside of the pumpkin by cutting and scraping and pulling and scouring our the insides of the pumpkin to prepare it for a Jack-o-Lantern, Christ cuts and pulls and scrapes to rid us from our flesh to live by His Spirit all while having the end result of the creative beauty that lies ahead. The pumpkin has no idea what it is going to look like when it is finished, but the sculptor does. Christ know what He is doing in each

one of us as He is doing it.

Hebrews 12:11 "No discipline feels pleasant at the time but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

Romans 8:18 "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be reveled in us."

Romans 8:28 - 29 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose . . . to be conformed to the likeness of His son."

7. The finishing touch of the jack-o-lantern is the placement of the glowing candle. Christ fills us with His light so that we can show off His good work in us to the darkness around us.

Acts 13:47 "I have made you a light."

2 Corinthians 4:6 "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made His light shine in our hearts."

8. Most analogies fall apart at some point, and so does this one. For unlike the little jack- o-lantern the graces our front porch for only a few weeks (if that) because it begins to rot and decay and we have to end up throwing it out with the trash, those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and have surrendered our hearts and lives to Him will never perish and God will never leave us, for any reason.

1 Corinthians 15:42 "The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it i s sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body."

John 10:28 "I give them eternal life, and they shall never be snatched from my hand."

1 Peter 1:23 "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but if imperishable seed, through the living and enduring work of God."

So, next time you start on your way to pick your pumpkin for fall, or are carving it out to put a happy little face on it, I hope that you smile a little bit brighter as you remember this analogy

HAPPY CARVING!!!!

And, I'd love to hear your thoughts.