If You Don’t Work, You Don’t Eat | 2 Thessalonians 3:10 Devotional + Workout

Devotional

“For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”

Thessalonians was a letter to the church of the Thessalonians written by Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. The writing style and thematic format are in line with Paul’s other writings, so primary authorship is attributed to Paul himself.

The section that I would like to focus on today is Paul’s warning against idleness. In his first command, in verse 6, he states “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us”.

Paul was not one to blindly give commands without leading by example. It was well known that Paul and his followers would be granted food and lodging in any place they visited, but Paul worked diligently, “with toil and labor, they worked day and night”.

How impressive is it that someone who could be lazy and idle chose to sacrifice his time and efforts simply to be an example to imitate?

He did this, not for fame or attention, rather he commanded the Thessalonians to work quietly and earn their living. He not only chose to live by this example, but made it clear not to regard a sloth as an enemy. Rather, he said to warn those who are idle as one would a brother.

As we look to apply this in our lifting, it is important that we do not grow weary in the good we are doing. We should not consider ourselves better than others for the dedication that we have in an area that others may not. We must work hard, quietly, to attain our end goal all for the purpose of glorifying Jesus Christ.

Workout

Below is the workout for the day.

Three things to consider when completing this lower body workout:

1) This is the first week of strength training. One rep sets should not be considered one rep maxes. Maxes will happen soon enough, but for now, utilize a weight you consider to be heavy that you have no concerns of missing.

Think 85-90% of your max.

2) I encourage heel-elevated squats, to promote quad activation and a more upright posture. This is simply a personal preference that I have found to alleviate lower-back pressure.

3) During the single-leg RDL, keep the rear foot on the ground for more stability and use a lighter weight. Think of this more as a good morning/back extension hinge, than a strength-focused barbell RDL.

Barbell Back Squat:

3 sets of 4 reps

3 sets of 1 rep

Kettlebell Goblet Squat:

4 sets of 12 reps

Barbell Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift:

4 sets of 12 reps each leg

Superset

Barbell Standing Calf Raise:

4 sets of 14 reps

Mini Loop Band Hip Thrust:

4 sets of 14