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02/02/2020

By February 2, 2020August 30th, 2022Devotional

Today, February 2, 2020 is a special day for a number of reasons. First of all, it is Super Bowl Sunday and the Kansas City Chiefs are playing the San Fransisco 49er’s for the Lombardi Trophy. And, it’s also Groundhog Day, the day that a big celebration happens in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania as Punxsutawney Phil comes out of his burrow and looks for his shadow. Today, Phil failed to see his shadow and that indicates that we will have an early spring and not have to endure six more weeks of winter. While we are talking about today, it is the 33rd day of the year with 333 more days to come in 2020.

The universal palindrome of 02/02/2020 is just too good to pass up. This is one of the few days that reads the same forward as backward – using the full four digits for the year. The last time this happened was on 11/11/1111 – more than 900 years ago. And today is the only day this century that we will have a full date palindrome. The next one happens on 12/12/2121, more than 101 years from now. Clearly, one could live an entire lifetime and not experience one of the universal palindrome days.

One of the busiest cities today was Las Vegas, where wedding chapels were touting the good luck of 2 people getting married on 02/02/2020 and being able to celebrate their 2nd anniversary on 2/2/22. Needless to say, there are people who spend most of their lives studying numbers and trying to figure out dates that have some interesting meaning.

The point of all this is that the date is always changing – time marches on – and it is clear that we await these “special days” and then they are gone… until the next one comes along. On the other hand, Bill Murray starred in a movie, called Groundhog Day, where his character wakes up each morning reliving the same day. It’s quite a funny movie, but he gets bored with the same routine day after day and tries to find ways to stop the insanity of his life not moving on.

Somewhere in the middle is probably the best outcome. We shouldn’t live our lives waiting for the next major event – missing out on living in the meantime. But we don’t want to be so bored that we can’t move forward either. I submit that we can have the best of everything when we are strong in our faith.

That’s because there is a constant in the lives of believers who can count on things being the same every day – yet they can be growing and changing their lives at the same time. That’s because Jesus is the constant that never changes. The Bible is quite clear that we can count on God to be with us every step of the way. In fact, our verse for tonight affirms this truth. Jesus tells us, in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

That means that Jesus is the beginning and the end, as well as everything that is in between. And He tells us that He is with us, was with us and will be with us throughout all time. What confidence that should give believers. My encouragement this evening is that the more things change in our lives, the more things stay the same with God. My prayer is that we can rest in that truth, enjoying the peace that comes from an eternal life with God – knowing that we can confidently handle the changes of life during the journey. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…

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