Running Free on a Different Track

In the summer of 1924, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell arrived at the Paris Olympics as the fastest man in Britain. He was the heavy favorite in the 100 meters — the race everyone expected him to win. But when Liddell learned the heats were scheduled for a Sunday, he quietly withdrew. He would not run on the Lord's Day.

The pressure was enormous. The British Olympic Committee pleaded with him. Newspapers called him a traitor. An entire nation wanted him on that starting line. But Liddell was free in a way his critics could not understand. He was not enslaved to the crowd's expectations, not chained to the gold medal everyone assumed was his destiny. His identity was not anchored to a stopwatch.

Instead, Liddell entered the 400 meters — a race no one thought he could win. On July 11, he exploded from the blocks, ran with reckless abandon, and crossed the finish line in a world-record 47.6 seconds. Gold.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). Liddell understood what many of us forget: true freedom is not the absence of limits. It is knowing Whose you are so deeply that no earthly voice can pull you off course. When you are free in Christ, you can let go of every expectation that was never yours to carry — and run the race God actually set before you.