Why is the Kingdom of God like a pumpkin?

(Inspired by Stan the man and Nat)

Pumpkins are a wholesome staple food in many parts of the world. They are so versatile as they can be used in everything from scones to stir fries or even dips but that is not what makes a pumpkin a hero of this story.  Did you know that the Kingdom of Heaven can be like a pumpkin?

Google says (it must be true) that a pumpkin on average has 200 seeds[1].  Google also says that 3 pumpkins per plant is a good average[2].  (Some varieties have over ten pumpkins per plant with less seeds each).  Even if these figures are a little off that doesn’t really change the general dynamics.  If you plant a pumpkin seed and nurture it, by these figures you could get 3 pumpkins from it and thereby get 600 seeds!  That is just the first year.  What if you then planted all 600 seeds and have people nurture them? That would give you the potential for 360,000 seeds at the end of the second year.  That is 216,000,000 seeds after the third year!  129,600,000,000 after 4 years.  77,760,000,000,000 after 5 years.  What would it look like after 10 years? 

In the past I used an apple for this illustration but many cultures don’t have apples.  An Apple only has about 10 seeds and an apple tree takes years of nurturing before it produces its first fruit.  Pumpkins explode right from the first season! Pumpkin vines are also very resilient.  They can cope with a wide variety of soils  and they can spread themselves out all over the place.  They often go through fences and over other barriers.  I know in India where arable land is a premium or next to none they can grow pumpkins by hanging them in trees and they climb up and down the tree! Wow pumpkins can grow just about everywhere.

Pumpkins are my new hero because if we act a little more like  a pumpkin seed, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can sow many more gospel seeds out in the community.  With so many seeds (opportunities), you can sow them everywhere and some will have to land in good soil! In the right soil, with nurturing the number of people that hear about the saving message of Christ can quickly explode and they can ripen to sow their own!  Soon, you may never know the lives that you helped to touch and grow into the Kingdom. 

The problem people have (myself included) is that when it comes to God and the Kingdom we always think too small!  That is one of the main reasons why our results tend to be smaller than we hoped for.  There is nothing bigger than God and there is nothing He can’t do.  Jesus Christ said that HE will build His church; we just have to let Him do it and enjoy the privilege of helping Him[3].

So go out and be a pumpkin seed… I dare you, there is nothing like it.

(Want to take up the dare but don’t know where to start?  You can contact one of our team or anyone else doing CPM.  You can reach us on our contact page.  God Bless.)