Eric Liddell and the Body That Felt God's Pleasure

In 1924, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell stood at the center of an Olympic controversy in Paris. He had withdrawn from his best event, the 100 meters, because the heats fell on a Sunday. Critics called him a fool. Teammates pressured him to compromise. But Liddell understood something most athletes never grasp — his body was not his own to spend however he pleased.

Liddell switched to the 400 meters, an event he had barely trained for, and won gold in a stunning 47.6 seconds. When asked why he ran, he gave his famous answer: "God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure."

That single sentence captures the heartbeat of what Paul writes to the Corinthians. "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." Liddell never treated his physical gifts as personal property to exploit or indulge. He saw his legs, his lungs, his discipline as instruments entrusted to him by the Almighty.

After the Olympics, Liddell left fame behind entirely. He went to China as a missionary, spending his body in service until he died in a Japanese internment camp in 1945, weakened but unbroken.

Paul's question rings across the centuries: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit?" Liddell knew. He honored God not just with his convictions, but with every stride his body took.