Groundhog Day

TBS routinely runs the movie “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray and this weekend I got caught up watching it again. I don’t know if many people realize the biblical message that I see in the movie so let me relate my thoughts.

If you haven’t seen the movie or don’t remember it too well it is about a weatherman named Phil who isn’t a particularly nice guy. He has to go to a small town and do a report on the festivities surrounding Groundhog day and he’s not very enthusiastic about. He is accompanied by his producer and a cameraman who he is equally unpleasant and rude to.

Every person that he runs across in the town he behaves selfishly and uncaring and goes about his day until he finally goes to bed and wakes up only to discover that he is repeating the same day again. At first he is amazed at his predicament and even tries to manipulate events in the day to try and force his own desired outcome. When he realizes that he is powerless to make any real changes he even tries to kill himself only to wake up having to repeat the day again.

Finally when he realizes what a nasty person he has been and admits his own failings does he actually start to experience change. He even begins doing things to better himself and helping others in the town.

I see this story from our own sinful nature to our salvation. The moment when we realize what wretches we are to repentance and finally becoming a new person in Jesus Christ do we really experience change.

In the movie when Phil realizes that he could either go on being the person that he is or truly turn away from his old ways do we begin to see fruit from him. In one scene he ’saves’ a boy falling from a tree because he knows he is going to fall. In another scene he saves a man from choking and finally in another scene he realizes that a homeless man will die.
He tries everything to save the homeless man from death to no avail until finally he decides just to feed the man and make his last day just a little better. We cannot stop people from dying but we can share with them our faith, just as Phil did when he changed and became charitable and loving towards others.
In fact in one scene he runs up to a guy and shows him so much love that the guy runs off because he is so taken back by it. Just as we share our faith and love and people turn from us, even those we know.
It isn’t until finally in the movie that he gets the love interest of the producer to love him back that he finally starts a new day.

I believe that each and every day we wake up we are getting another chance to repeat the day and do things right. Salvation, sharing the gospel message, charity, kindness to others and being a good Christian example. I’m not saying that unbelievers cannot behave in this manner but the deeper spiritual lesson is that the only way we can truly be saved and enter into God’s kingdom is by repenting and turning from sin and receiving Jesus Christ. The charity, kindness, etc. are the ways that God would want us to act and would be the fruit of our salvation.