Groundhog Day
Yesterday was Groundhog Day. The cute furry little rodent hopped out of his hole, looked at his shadow, and declared more winter yet to come! He then hopped back into his hole for more napping. Well, at least that is what he will probably do in 2019. History shows that he has seen his shadow 103 times and not seen it seventeen times. Seeing the shadow equates to more winter. Not seeing it means an early spring. His prognosticating abilities are not very accurate as he has only successfully predicted the future thirty-nine percent of the time. Nevertheless, he is used as a predictor of the weather every year with much pomp and circumstance even with his chances of failure being higher than sixty percent.
While Groundhog Day is all good fun, it illustrates an important point. Trying to do something is better than doing nothing. Thirty-nine percent is still better than zero percent! How many of us talk ourselves out of doing something because we say to ourselves that we will fail? One thing is sure–if we don’t try, we will fail! In the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3-9), Jesus said that the rate of failure was going to be at least 75%! He illustrated this with four different soil types: wayside soil, rocky soil, thorny soil, and good soil. Three out of the four failed. “Then one said to Him, ‘Lord, are there few who are saved?’ And He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able’” (Luke 13:23-24). However, Jesus never gave up trying! We must keep trying also. Some will believe, and, like the groundhog, our rate of success will not be zero.
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley