A friend gave this book to me yesterday. Eric Liddell, also known as the Flying Scotsman, was a Christian who won the 400 m Olympics in 1924. The movie, Chariot of Fire, was made about his journey.
He is also a Christian and later went to China as a Missionary.
I admired him in many ways. That he is a Christian foremost and a runner second. That he used his gift to run fast to give Glory to God.
He once said that, “I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run it is in His pleasure.”
I like to take a moment and pull two paragraphs from the book.
When Eric later chronicled his own journey of faith, he expressed this turning point in these words:
“I was brought up in a Christian home where the stories of the Bible were often told and became familiar to me. In school, the stories of the Bible and the teachings of Christ were placed before me. The beauty of the Christian life began to appeal to me. The time came when the appeal of Christ became more personal and I began to realize that it was going to affect my life. In this experience of Christ there was a sense of sin but that was not nearly so great as the sense of being called to do a piece of work for which I was absolutely unqualified.
My whole life had been one of keeping out of public duties but the leading of Christ seemed now to be in the opposite direction, and I shrank from going forward. At this time, I finally decided to put it all on Christ – after all if He called me to do it, then he would have to supply the necessary power. In going forward the power was given me. Since then the consciousness of being an active member of the Kingdom of Heaven has been very real. New experiences of the Grace of God, sense of sin, wonders of the Bible have come from time to time. All these fresh experiences have given me fresh visions of our Lord.” (pg. 71)
