Eric Liddell is one of my heros. He was a Scottish laddie, who was born in China to missionary parents. He won the Men’s 400 meters at the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris. Much of his life was portrayed in the movie Chariots of Fire. He refused to run on the Lord’s day, Sunday, often referred to as the Christian Sabbath. God honored his sacrifice of not running on Sunday. When he ran the 400, he set a world’s record, and he went home with gold. He used this as a platform to share the gospel of Jesus Christ for several years and then he returned to China and was a missionary until he died at Weihsien Internment Camp.
He refused to run on the Lord’s Day. That day being Sunday. All across our country sports and recreation time have taken over the Lord’s Day. Children are playing in organized sports clubs and people skip out of church because they have tickets to the local/national professional game on the Lord’s Day. Or they have a TV show they must not miss. Sunday has become a day to catch up on housework, beautifying our landscapes, and attend sporting events. People all across this land keep praying for revival and yet where are they on Sunday morning? or Sunday Evening? (Paul was preaching late in the evening when the young man fell out of the window.)
Revival isn’t going to come until Christians get themselves back to God being the first priority in their lives.
Isaiah 58: 13&14 says, “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
God promises blessing to those who keep His day set apart, and call the sabbath a delight, and honourable.
In Adam Clark’s Commentary on the Old Testament, published in 1831, he says, “The meaning of this seems to be, that they should be careful not to take their pleasure on the Sabbath day, … How vilely is this rule transgressed by the inhabitants of this land! They seem to think that the Sabbath was made only for their recreation!”
Title: Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Old Testament, Edition: First’, Author: Clarke, Adam, Publisher: QuickVerse, Publisher Location: Wheaton, Illinois 60189
Written in 1706, Matthew Henry commented on this section in Isaiah as well, saying, “On sabbath days we must not walk in our own ways (that is, not follow our callings), not find our own pleasure (that is, not follow our sports and recreations)…”
Title: Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Old Testament, Edition: First, Author: Henry, Matthew, Publisher: QuickVerse, Publisher Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Are your priorities the same as the priorities God has set for you?
