Too Hot to Handle

I can’t stop because it’s too hot outside. I’ve got to walk.

I appreciate your concern, but walking four miles at a quick pace in ninety-six-degree heat works for me. I’ve been walking all year, when it was under fifty degrees to now when it’s over ninety. Just like with a construction worker or a beach lifeguard, the heat is just part of the landscape.

Now, if I had not been out in the heat regularly I would be very reticent to suddenly spend an hour at vigorous exercise. It’s what you get acclimated to.

See where I’m going with this? It’s about building a lifestyle. If you attend church regularly, you won’t miss because you see it’s raining outside. If you usually give generously to charity, a special request for a child cancer victim won’t throw you off. If you greet everyone with a smile, you’ll even do it if someone looks especially grumpy.

Take the heat. It builds character.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”