He was fast. So fast, in fact, that the nickname they gave him first belonged to a record breaking locomotive: “The Flying Scotsman.” Eric Liddel was the stuff of legend. So in 1924, when the world looked to Paris to watch the Olympics, everyone wanted to see him run.
Except that he would not run… at least, not that day; That day was a Sunday. Eric was a devout Christian, and while he recognized that God had given him a tremendous gift, he didn’t want the gift to compete with the giver.
Since the schedule for the Olympics had been released many months before hand, Eric spent the time training for the 400 meter race instead of his area of expertise, the 100 meter race, that had been scheduled for a Sunday.
Before we throw up our defenses, before we call this legalism- recognize this: here was a man that could run and loved it; he not only gave up a chance for a sure victory, but changed his training and reconditioned his body all for the sake of one day- specifically, the one day a week when he wanted to exclusively honor God.
Now fast forward almost a hundred years…
Busy-ness not only seems to be the theme of our lives, it seems to be a badge of honor. We spend so much time on things that won’t matter in five years, and so little time on things that are timeless (eternal). And when we do set out to pay attention to what matters most, we often allow a competition for our time.
Friends, we have a blessing in WCC, namely that we have times when we can come together as The Body and be shaped and formed more and more into the image of Christ… together. We have many opportunities throughout the week to come together and study God’s word, to let it take root in us in such a way that it impacts us now until eternity.
I challenge you to mark out a clear line. To say, nothing will cross this point, nothing will compete with these times we have to exclusively honor God. I challenge you to set aside everything- a busy schedule, a school event, even a shot at gold in an Olympic race, to set these times as most important.
Leave a Reply