This year is the 100th anniversary of Eric Liddell's famous race, which was placed before a new audience by the film Chariots of Fire (1981). British athlete Liddell, was a devout Christian of Scottish missionary parents serving in China, who took a stand for his faith by not competing on a Sunday.

At the Olympics, he changed discipline from 100m to 400m so he could compete on another day, and in spite of the extra challenge this change of event presents he won gold. His whole desire in the first place was to glorify God through his running, before going back to China as a missionary.

As part of this anniversary,  Christians in Sport have produced a number of resources marking the significance of what happened from a faith perspective.

One is a short video, Running

"A eight-minute talk from evangelist Graham Daniels, exploring how Eric Liddell's faith in God transformed his view of sport."

Another is a short animated clip A Tale of Two Runners

"A short spoken word animation sharing the gospel through the story of Chariots of Fire."

I do encourage you to have a look and share these, particularly as we have experienced the Olympics so recently.

Clearly not every Christian will hope to win at an Olympic event, but we can all have a heart that seeks to glorify God in whatever we do for him. This, above all, is the inspiration of Eric Liddell. As we seek to do this, God will walk with us through the extra challenges that we face. Honouring God may not be easy, but day by day, God's presence with us and within us will sustain.

As I write this we have had the letter to the Ephesian church as a reading (eighth Sunday after Trinity). Ephesians 2:22

"And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

May God bless us all in our daily walk of faith seeking to bring him glory in all we do.