When it comes to fall there are two things I think of: pumpkins and apples. Last month I wrote about a unit study on “How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World,” this month I want to write about pumpkins. Specifically, how to take an ordinary pumpkin and turn it into a gospel presentation.
First take an ordinary pumpkin, when you look at it you can see there is nothing particularly special about it. Some are fat and short, others are tall and thin. Each can be used by God.
Just as in parables there are people or objects that stand in and represent God, as you carve this pumpkin you are representing God, and what God did for you.
As your child is cleaning all of the seeds and goop out of the pumpkin talk about how that is what God did for us when Jesus died on the cross and we decide we want Jesus to be our savior. Jesus comes in and cleans out the sin and wipes our record clean. It does not remain. The seeds and the goop inside is like sin, it’s slimy, it’s messy, and if it’s left in the pumpkin we can’t use it.
Next as you and your child work together to carve the face of the pumpkin (my boys always want SCARY pumpkins). Talk about how we are carving the pumpkin to look like we want it to look. God does the same thing with us. He changes us and makes us look the way he wants. It can be painful at times as God carves away the things that do not look like Him. But the end result is worth it.
Finally God puts His light in us, just like we put a candle in our pumpkin to shine out to the world. We show God’s light to the world and bring people to him, just as the pumpkin shines out for others to see.
Editor’s note: Here are several excellent books to go along with this activity:
I Love Love Love this! Shared all over, after all the Gospel is for sharing!
We don’t celebrate Halloween, but I do love this idea of sharing the truths of the Gospel through pumpkin craving! These are wonderful visuals for kids to see Christ! Thanks for sharing!