christians are like pumpkins

I am not a huge fan of halloween. I'm not anti halloween, nor do I think those that dare to participate in things like dressing up or trick or treating are bad, I just don't personally like it. I don't have a problem with kids dressing up and getting candy. I do however, have a problem with a lot of the costumes that are out there though.

When I was younger I used to love watching horror movies. The older I get the more that I find that those movies and those images leave an impression on my mind, one that I don't really care to have. It reminds me of Philipians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -think about such things."

I think about what I am going to do with my kids during halloween when I start a family. I will let them dress up, but nothing that is bloody or gory, shows to much skin, or is dark and evil. I will not have a half eaten zombie, a slutty kitty, or a demon. I don't know if I will let my kids go house to house (depends on the area) or if we will participate in activities through our church. I don't know a lot of how I will celebrate halloween with my children, but I do know what we will learn when we carve our pumpkins.

I had heard a little story about how christians are like pumpkins quite a while ago. I loved it so much that I bought a pumpkin and carved it with the Sunday school class that I was teaching at the time.

I gathered the class around and we looked at the pumpkin. It was dirty, and I told the kids that when I had bought it it was surrounded by a lot of other dirty pumpkins. We washed off the outside with a clean rag and then I asked the kids if it was clean. They said yes. I cut off the top and then showed them the inside of the pumpkin. I told them about how even though we could clean the outside, the inside was still very yucky.

As the kids helped me clean out the pumpkin guts we talked about how just like the inside of the pumpkin was yucky and gross, the sin that is inside of us is yucky too. We talked about how the pumpkin had lots of seeds. We talked about how we have seeds of anger, bitternes, jelousy, ect inside of us. As we scooped out the seeds we talked about how when we invite Jesus into our hearts, He comes inside of us and takes all that yucky stuff away.

Once the inside was cleaned out we carved a smiley face, and we talked about how Jesus gives us joy. Then, when we put the candle inside and lit it, we talked about how when others see us they can see the light of God shinning through us. I really liked that we could take something that was not supposed to be christian related and relate it back to God. I love that something as simple as a pumpkin can be used to relate such intricate truths.