Today marks the first day of February, and boy, does it feel like it with the bone-chilling cold weather outside. Tomorrow we’re supposed to find out if we’re going to have six more weeks of winter or not thanks to Punxsutawney Phil.
I thought it’d be fun to share a couple of tidbits about Groundhog Day that you may not be aware of.
The celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers. They brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, which states, “For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May…”
Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the 1800s. The first official trek to Gobbler’s Knob was made on February 2, 1887.
So the story goes, Punxsutawney Phil was named after King Phillip. Prior to being called Phil, he was called Brer Groundhog.
These tidbits come straight from the official site of Punxsutawney’s Groundhog Club at www.groundhog.org.
Now, of course, this is all done in good fun. Farmers, weathermen, and other people whose jobs depend on the weather are not going to put their full faith of what’s going to happen weather-wise on a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, no matter how cute he may be.
But we CAN and DO put our full faith on Jesus when He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
We take that seriously because the understanding and acceptance of that verse is always spot-on in forecasting the internal weather of our hearts. Are we cold, frigid to the touch, unwilling to move? Are we windy, always blowing people down as we go through our lives? Or are we warm, blooming in the love of Christ?
Tomorrow, when the groundhog crawls out of his burrow and makes his prediction, I challenge you to look at what your heart is forecasting. Unlike the weather outside, you CAN change your heart’s weather.
I hope and pray it’s not another six weeks of winter.
faithGroundhog DayJesusJohn
Groundhog Day
February 1, 2007
Calvary
Comments Off on Groundhog Day
Matt
Today marks the first day of February, and boy, does it feel like it with the bone-chilling cold weather outside. Tomorrow we’re supposed to find out if we’re going to have six more weeks of winter or not thanks to Punxsutawney Phil.
I thought it’d be fun to share a couple of tidbits about Groundhog Day that you may not be aware of.
The celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers. They brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, which states, “For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May…”
Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the 1800s. The first official trek to Gobbler’s Knob was made on February 2, 1887.
So the story goes, Punxsutawney Phil was named after King Phillip. Prior to being called Phil, he was called Brer Groundhog.
These tidbits come straight from the official site of Punxsutawney’s Groundhog Club at www.groundhog.org.
Now, of course, this is all done in good fun. Farmers, weathermen, and other people whose jobs depend on the weather are not going to put their full faith of what’s going to happen weather-wise on a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, no matter how cute he may be.
But we CAN and DO put our full faith on Jesus when He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
We take that seriously because the understanding and acceptance of that verse is always spot-on in forecasting the internal weather of our hearts. Are we cold, frigid to the touch, unwilling to move? Are we windy, always blowing people down as we go through our lives? Or are we warm, blooming in the love of Christ?
Tomorrow, when the groundhog crawls out of his burrow and makes his prediction, I challenge you to look at what your heart is forecasting. Unlike the weather outside, you CAN change your heart’s weather.
I hope and pray it’s not another six weeks of winter.
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faithGroundhog DayJesusJohn