At church services last Sabbath here in Mobile, Alabama a member asked me: "So, are you here now because you like pumpkins?" I misinterpreted the question, because I thought she was referring to the cut out pumpkins of Halloween. However, she had the American holiday Thanksgiving in mind, celebrating each year on the fourth Thursday of November, when pumpkin pie is a traditional desert.

Did you know that there are dozens of pumpkin varieties? One of them is the "Dill's Atlantic Giant", the world's biggest pumpkin that was developed by selective seed breeding on the Canadian Atlantic coast. This pumpkin variety is known for its size and has set world records. As an example, a pumpkin grown in 2011 in the Canadian province of Quebec weighed 825 kg, setting a new record for weight. That single pumpkin was estimated to be able to provide nearly 1000 pieces of pumpkin cake!

With a pumpkin that size one has to wonder how it got so large. A reporter asked a farmer that question, and the answer is interesting for our relationship to God. The farmer admitted that the size of the "Dill's Atlantic Giant" variety was due in part to the seed selection, but that would not be the main reason for the growth. The soil characteristics were also very important, because without the right soil characteristics the pumpkins would not grow at all, no matter what variety.

Isn't it interesting that Jesus talked about soil characteristics in His parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew 13? The seed being sown is the good news of the kingdom of God – the gospel. And the soil characteristics determined the reaction of people to that gospel message. Jesus described four different types of soil, and only the "good ground" produced good and lasting fruit – "some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty" (Matthew 13:8). The other soil types did not produce lasting fruit.

God has called us and sown within us the good seed of the gospel. We are to bear fruit. Have you ever considered what type of soil you are? Or what the characteristics of the "good ground" in the parable of the sower and the seed were? Think about it and let me know what characteristics the "good ground" must have to bear fruit for eternal life. I'll share your answers in the next "Thoughts for the Sabbath".

With these thoughts I wish everyone a rewarding Sabbath!