More Than Gold

In 1924, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell arrived at the Paris Olympics as the fastest man in Britain, favored to win the 100 meters. Then he learned the heats were scheduled for Sunday.

Liddell withdrew.

The British press called him a traitor. Teammates pressured him to reconsider. An entire nation expected him to run. But Liddell had settled something about his identity long before he ever reached Paris. He knew he was a child of God first and an athlete second.

He entered the 400 meters instead — an event he had barely trained for. Before the race, a trainer slipped a note into his hand with words from 1 Samuel 2:30: "Those who honor Me, I will honor."

Liddell won the gold medal.

Years later, as a missionary in China imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, Liddell gave away his few possessions and organized games for the children. He died there in February 1945. Fellow prisoners called him the most Christlike person they had ever known.

The world remembers Eric Liddell for the race he won. Heaven remembers him for the race he refused to run — because he already knew who he was.

Your identity is not your greatest achievement. It is your deepest belonging. You are not what you do. You are whose you are.