November 17, 2024
Another Olympic hero, Eric Liddell, was featured in the movie “Chariots of Fire.”
Of Scottish heritage, he was born in China to missionary parents on January 16, 1902. In 1924, he entered the Olympics as a runner. He refused to run his best event – the 100 meter race – because the qualifying heat was on a Sunday, a day that his Christian faith meant for him to rest and worship. He believed that God would honor those who honor Him.
He entered the 200 meter and 400 meter, winning a bronze and a gold medal. The most memorable line from the movie was when he said, “God made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.”
Eric’s faith in Christ was joyful and contagious. He left sports fame, and moved to China as a missionary, married and had three daughters. During World War II, he sent his family to safety in Canada, while he stayed to teach children and to serve the needy. Interred in a war camp by the Japanese, he continued to help others, and died of a brain tumor on February 21, 1945, shortly before the war ended.
Even though he was made a sports hero, he exceeded that, in God’s eyes, by selfless service in a different, more difficult “arena.”
