Confession time: I flat out love the movie Groundhog Day. It’s one of my all-time favorites. Here’s the 30-second summary, although if you haven’t seen it, you should just go check it out now.

Phil Connors (played perfectly by Bill Murray) is a rude, self-absorbed weatherman from Pittsburgh who gets sent to Punxsutawney to cover the local Groundhog Day festival — a task he considers beneath his skills and abilities. Along for the ride is his producer, played by Andie MacDowell. To his utter dismay, Phil gets caught in a time loop, forced to live the same day over, and over, and over, prevented from fleeing Punxsutawney by a blizzard.

Truth time for Phil. At the beginning of the movie, you can describe him in one simple word — poser. He’s a fake, a phony, and quite the jerk. He wants others to think he’s happy and successful. But he’s not. He’s a jerk; he takes pleasure in making other people feel stupid. He talks about how he’s “probably” leaving his current job because his skills are in demand, but clearly it’s a sham. Phil’s not going anywhere, so he’s content to drag others down with him.

Once he slips into the time loop, Phil finds the perfect opportunity to get the things he’s always wanted. He engages in out-of-control eating, bank robbery, knocking out people that annoy him, and using his new-found powers to pick up girls. Soon, though, the reality of his situation sets in and Phil descends into despair. He commits suicide multiple times, only to find himself back in bed the next morning.

He attempts to pursue a relationship with Rita, his producer, but it’s shallow. She smacks him — and smacks him, and smacks him — when she sees through his sham multiple times and realizes he’s just trying to seduce her.

So how does he escape? What happens? Simply this — Phil changes. After repeating the same drudgery over and over, Phil seems to come to a profound conclusion. Since the actions of daily life seem meaningless and endlessly repetitive, only one thing matters: people.

Phil gets busy serving: he touches hearts with his profound weather report, ice sculpts in a local competition, changes a flat tire for a car-load of little old ladies, catches a boy who falls from a tree, and saves a man’s life who begins to choke in a restaurant. The sham is gone; in everything he does, Phil seems genuinely committed to helping everyone he comes in contact with.

This movie is funny and heartwarming, but it makes me ask a question: if there was something deeply wrong with my view of the world or how I treated people, what would it take to correct it? For how long would God have to pin me down before I was willing to change? We don’t get an exact count of how many times Phil relives Groundhog Day, but it’s clear it’s a LONG time. I may not be caught in a time warp, but how many days have I lived with the same bad habits, attitudes, and beliefs? And what will it take to change?

The lesson Phil learns reminds me of the Biblical parable of the good samaritan. A man who is beaten and left for dead on the side of the road is ignored by three educated and religious individuals who pass by, only to be helped by a man who, culturally, ought to be his worst enemy. Jesus asks the question, “Which of these men was the neighbor to the man who was beaten?” The answer: “The one who had mercy on him.”

I’ve understood the parable’s meaning this way: a Godly “neighbor”  helps those who are within his power to help. Phil understands this, filling his day with service to every peson he encounters. That’s a message worth learning and living.