Unique Value

"Hey, what number is this?" "71" "Are you sure?" "Yes, because cucumbers are 70 and I hit 71 for them all the time and pumpkin comes up!" "Ok, thanks!"

Yes, it is a pumpkin kind of day again in the grocery world most days now. Nearly every customer who pushes a shopping cart to the check out where I work seems to have need of a pricey pumpkin. As the pumpkins first begin to pop up most of the checkers have no clue how much they cost, how to ring them up, and some don't even know what the "orange things" are. Really?

Pumpkins are seasonal and if a checker has come on since last pumpkin season they can be a bit overwhelmed by the onslaught of pumpkin purchasers. To add to the confusion we now have a new produce listing of Pie Pumpkins which are not number 71 but have to each be weighed to come up with their own unique value. This can be confusing because the pumpkins are all different sizes. How small do they have to be to be classified as a pie pumpkin and not a pumpkin pumpkin? If a person purchases a pie pumpkin to prepare pumpkin pie perhaps produce people pricing pumpkins plainly is preferred. Yes, prices marked would be preferred by two out of three cashiers surveyed for their customers who purchase pumpkins. Unfortunately, as with most things in life, the pumpkins don't come exactly as we prefer them to.

So what is the life lesson to be learned from Pumpkin Price Practices 101? I don't know I thought of several as I told the 99th customer in one day to please just leave the fifty-ton pumpkin in the basket because I didn't have to scan it. Obviously, the actual reason is that I don't want to pick it up, but back to what is the life lesson to be learned here from this orange fruit?

We all obviously come in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes we feel like we are only a number in a huge crowd with no identity, or value to anyone. We are grouped into categories daily by ourselves and by others; sometimes into categories that we really would prefer not be a part of. Most people wouldn't want to be in the prestigious group who has to be perplexed daily about pumpkin prices. But there could be worse groups of people to be a part of. I think I much prefer checking pumpkins than being out in the hot sun planting and harvesting them.

I also think of some of the younger checkers who didn't even know what one of the small orange pie pumpkins was. How are we viewed by people who don't know us? Even if someone doesn't know us personally we should be quickly placed in the group some refer to as "one of those Christians." We should stand out from those who are of the world. As Christians, we should be easily identified by good fruit. Some of our fruits produced daily should be peace, joy, and love even when we find ourselves in the middle of perplexity.

Luke 6 ⁴³"A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. ⁴⁴A tree is identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thornbushes or grapes on bramble bushes. ⁴⁵A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say.

Also remember how valuable you are to God, even if people don't see it. Just as the smaller pie pumpkins each have their own unique values, so do we.

Luke 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows