Eric Liddell's Sacred Stride

In 1924, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell arrived at the Paris Olympics as the favorite in the 100 meters. But when he learned the heats fell on a Sunday, he withdrew — stunning the British sporting world. His body, he believed, belonged first to God.

Liddell switched to the 400 meters, a race he had barely trained for. Before the final, a masseur slipped a folded note into his hand. It read: "Those who honor Me, I will honor." He tucked it into his running shorts, pressed against his skin like a promise.

He won gold, setting a world record of 47.6 seconds.

What made Liddell remarkable was not the medal but the conviction beneath it. He understood something Paul pressed upon the Corinthians — that the body is not a commodity to be bartered for applause or appetite. Every muscle, every breath, every stride was on loan from the Almighty. Liddell later left athletic fame behind entirely, serving as a missionary in China, where he died in a Japanese internment camp in 1945, his body spent in service to the very last.

Paul wrote, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." Liddell grasped this not as restriction but as liberation. When we understand Whose we are, the question shifts from "What can I get away with?" to "What was I made for?"