Another second chance ... again

I enjoy the film "Groundhog Day" for a variety of reasons.

No. 1: Bill Murray is hilarious and does a great job. He's one of those guys, you know the one, that's just plain funny. You know he's going to do or say something funny when he walks into the room. You can tell just by the look on his face. Plus, about the only time I watch golf is to see Murray in one of those celebrity pro-am tournaments. Now that's some funny stuff, right there.

No. 2: It's set in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Not filmed in Punxy, mind you. It was filmed somewhere in Illinois, I think. But just the fact that Punxsutawney, that picturesque little hamlet in western Penns-a-vania, becomes the media capital of the U.S. for a little while on one day each year is fabulous, just fabulous. And all because of an old European tale that said that a rodent, or badger, or sacred bear, could predict the weather.

Sacred bear? Uh, yeah, I got nothin'.

No. 3: Ultimately, "Groundhog Day" is a story about second chances. A lot of second chances.

I'm all about second chances.

Actually, I guess we're all about second chances. No one is perfect, well, except for that one guy or girl, you know them. Anyway, we all mistakes, blow it, crash and burn, implode, explode, drop the ball, take one on the chin, etc. It's a part of life.

I have definitely done all of the above at one time or another in my 44 years on this big blue marble. I especially don't enjoy taking one on the chin, though. It usually leaves a mark. Ouch. Not cool.

But I'm thankful that despite all of my failures, shortcomings, missteps, bad decisions, really bad decisions, angry words, bad deeds, and, yeah, more really, really bad decisions, that God has seen fit in His mercy and grace to grant me more than just one second chance.

The Bible is full of second chance stories. One is found in the book of Jonah. Actually, there are two second chance stories found in Jonah.

The first is in relation to Jonah himself. The Lord calls him to "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me” (Jonah 1:2). But instead of going to Nineveh as the Lord called him to do, Jonah jumped on a ship headed in the opposite direction.

Next came the whale, or fish, prepared by the Lord for Jonah and, after being puked up on a beach, the prophet got back on track and headed to Nineveh. Jonah took the message of the Lord to the city, the people repented (second chance granted by God) and the Lord spared the city from its impending destruction.

Happy ending, right, just like "Groundhog Day"? For Nineveh, yes, but not necessarily for Jonah the prophet.

He never wanted to go to Nineveh in the first place and after the folks there repented and the Lord spared the city (Jonah 3), Jonah was apparently not a happy camper. And he let God know he wasn't happy in Jonah 4.

The Bible doesn't detail what happened to Jonah following his dialogue with God in the final verses of Chapter 4, so we don't know what kind of decision Jonah came to after his talk with the Lord. I hope he saw the error of his ways and found forgiveness from God, another second chance.

I'm thankful for all the second chances that the Lord has afforded me. My daily prayer is that I will continue to wise up and walk on the path that God has laid out for me instead of trying to live life on my own and cut my own path through the woods.

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of the woods.