When Success Becomes Dangerous | 2 Chronicles 26:16

Devotional

“But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.”

Uzziah was the 10th king of Judah who reigned 52 years, making him one of the longest reigning kings of Judah. Starting at the age of 16, Uzziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

He was instructed in the fear of God, and as long as he followed the Lord, the Lord brought prosperity.

During the time of his prosperity, he amassed several significant achievements. He defeated and built cities in neighboring Philistine territories, where his fame spread to the border of Egypt. He accumulated a large herd on fertile lands. He even led an army of over 300,000 soldiers, where skillful men invented state of the art machinery to help them shoot arrows and large stones.

Just before our title verse, it is written that Uzziah was marvelously helped, until he was strong. With his strength came pride, and with pride, came his destruction.

God helped him become strong.

Then his strength became the thing that separated him from God.

The story of Uzziah should be seen as a warning of what happens when we let our achievements dictate our self-perception. Uzziah forgot the Lord and attempted to take on a role God had not given him, burning incense in the Temple.

If we do not attribute our success to God and utilize our accomplishments as a means of praise, we are just as lost as Uzziah. Our goal isn’t to avoid becoming strong; it is to remember who made us strong.

Success becomes dangerous when it causes us to forget where our success came from.

Workout

Today will be our first leg day of the new program. If you followed the last program, moving from singles to sets of 12 will be a major challenge! Do a thorough warmup.

The strength block for today includes mostly quads and glutes, so the circuit is hamstring dominant. Remember that, even though we are doing circuits, these should still be done with heavy weights. They will just not be as heavy as you could go when done one exercise at a time.

Leg Day

Strength

1. Barbell Back Squats: 3x12

2. Barbell Hip Thrust: 3x12

3. Barbell Lunge: 3x10 each leg

Conditioning - 3 round circuit

• Seated Leg Curls: 12 reps

• Kettlebell Swings: 15 reps

• Ab Wheel: 12 reps