Remember the Sabbath

In 1981, the film Chariots of Fire captured the Oscar for Best Picture. The movie tells the story the Eric Liddell, who ran for Great Britain in the 1924 Olympics. Liddell trained hard for the 100 meter race, and was Britain’s record holder for that event, but when he arrived in Paris to run in the Olympics, he discovered the race was scheduled for Sunday.

Without hesitation, Liddell informed his coaches that he would be unable to run. In spite of enormous criticism from his teammates and even direct pressure from his country’s leaders, including the Prince of Wales, Liddell refused to run on Sunday.

To solve the dilemma, Liddell agreed to run in the 400 meters race, in which many felt he was weak. Just before running the race, someone handed him a note that read: “Them that honor Me, I will honor. I Samuel 2:30.”

Liddell ran the race and won the gold medal, setting a new world’s record. After the Olympics, Liddell served the Lord as a missionary and died in an internment camp in China in 1945.

Eric Liddell had strong convictions about honoring the Lord on Sunday, and his convictions became a living testimony not only to his contemporaries in 1924, but to the entire world in 1981.

This week we will pull aside and consider the fourth commandment: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."  The Sabbath commandment has the unique distinction of being the only commandment not restated in the New Testament. Simply put, Christians today are not under the law of the Sabbath.

Never before, however, is there a generation more in need of a Sabbath than our generation today. As we contemplate the principal of the Sabbath this week, begin searching for your own convictions regarding this important commandment.

Lord, I want my commitment to You to be evident to others and a testimony of Your grace in my life!  I will set Sundays apart as a day of worship, even when others do not!