Hot, Hot, Hot

Hot, Hot, Hot 

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;

in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,

and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,

the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

2 Peter 3:10 

 I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where, as the old saying goes, you can fry eggs on the sidewalk in the summer.  You can also fry your feet and anything else that inadvertently comes into contact with either concrete or asphalt, and you can quite literally fry your brain with heatstroke.  Growing up, the 100 degree temperatures would start in June and be finished by the end of August,   By the time I left Phoenix for good in the 1990's, the 100 degree temperatures started in March and ended in October.  I hadn't heard about "global warming" back then, but I certainly was familiar with the lengthening pattern of extremely hot weather.

 I used to have a t-shirt that proclaimed me a survivor of the 122º heat that occurred one August.  To be truthful, it didn't feel all that much hotter than 114º, which I experienced day after day on a yearly basis.  There is always an ongoing discussion about how Phoenix’ heat is “dry” heat, but we often received our highest temperatures in late July/August when the “monsoons” descended with a significant rise in humidity.

The Bible says that when Christ comes again, the very elements of the earth will melt away with “fervent heat.”  I’m sure that would be significantly hotter than anything I’ve ever felt, including 122º!  It behooves me, then, to be certain that when God draws His final line in the sand, I will be standing on His side – secure in my faith, protected by His love.

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Lo, He comes with clouds ascending,

Once for favored sinners slain.

Thousand thousand saints attending,

Swell the triumph of His train.

Alleluia!  Alleluia! 

God appears on earth to reign.

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 718