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Christians are like pumpkins! This season when pumpkins are ripe and we use them for all kinds of delicious dishes, as well as decorations, it’s interesting to see how we are like those pumpkins.
For example, pumpkins first must be picked from the patch, brought in and cleaned up. And when we are born from above and made new creations in Christ, he chooses us from our dirty pumpkin patches, and brings us into his family, and cleanses us from the sin and dirt of this world.
It is true that we never want to dwell on our past and live in regret. What God has forgiven and we have forsaken should no longer keep us in bondage. But it is also true that we need to remember where we were before Christ brought us in from our pumpkin patch. A. W. Tozer has written:
“The only sure defense against self-righteousness is to cultivate a quiet state of continual penitence. A sweet but sobering memory of our past guilt and a knowledge of our present imperfections are not incompatible with the joy of the Lord; and they are of inestimable aid in resisting the enemy.”
Remember your pumpkin patch today—the place you were before Christ picked you up and brought you in. Remember, and give thanks that he has redeemed you from that life and given you new life and hope for a bright future.
Because we’ve been given new life in Christ, our demeanor and our attitudes should be joyful, don’t you think? You may be in a place you don’t particularly want to be in, a job you’re not crazy about, dealing with people you’re not fond of. But you have a wonderful opportunity, right in that spot, to be a witness for Jesus simply by being a joyful, positive person. After all, you’ve been saved from the pumpkin patch and you have every reason to rejoice. So, today, wherever God has you now planted, make a commitment to rejoice all day long as you remember that you’ve been rescued from the pumpkin patch and made new in Christ.