The Muscular Christianity of Eric Liddell
Editor’s Note: After the Olympics, Eric Liddell answered the Lord’s calling and went to China as a missionary. In this excerpt from his book A Manual of Christian Discipleship, he reflects on what it means to follow Jesus.
A disciple is a person who knows God personally and learns from Jesus Christ, who most perfectly revealed God. Obedience is the key to knowing God. Obedience to God’s will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but to do God’s will that brings enlightenment and certainty regarding spiritual truth (see John 7:17).
Ask yourself: If I know something to be true, am I prepared to follow it, even though it is contrary to what I want, to what I have previously held to be true? Will I follow it if it means being laughed at, if it means personal financial loss or some kind of hardship?
Obedience is the secret of being conscious that God guides you personally. If you feel in your heart that you should do something, consider whether it is in line with the character and teaching of Jesus. If it is, obey the impulse; in doing so you will find it was God guiding you.
If you are not guided by God, you will be guided by someone or something else. The Christian who hasn’t the sense of guidance in life is missing something vital. To obey God’s will was like food to Jesus, refreshing his mind, body, and spirit. “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me” (John 4:34). We can have the same experience if we make God’s will the dominant purpose in our lives.
