elf, but of the corporeal organ and instrument of
the self, when he says 'present your _bodies_ a living sacrifice.'

Of course, the central idea of sacrifice is surrender to God; and, of
course, the place where that surrender is made is the inmost self. The
will is the man, and when the will bows, dethroning self and enthroning
God, submitting to His appointments, and delighting to execute His
commandments, then the sacrifice is begun. But, inasmuch as the body is
the organ of the man's activity, the sacrifice of the will and of self
must needs come out into visibility and actuality in the aggregate of
deeds, of which the body is the organ and instrument. But there must
first of all be the surrender of my inmost self, and only then, and as
the token and outcome of that, will any external acts, however religious
they may seem to be, come into the category of sacrifice when they
express a conscious surrender of myself to God. 'The flesh profiteth
nothing,' and yet the flesh profiteth much. But here is the order that
another of the Apostles lays down: 'Yield _yourselves_ to God,' and
then, 'your members as instruments of righteousness to Him.'

To speak of the sacrifice of the body as a living sacrifice suggests
that it is not the slaying of any bodily appetite or activity that is
the true sacrifice and worship, but the hallowing of these. It is a
great deal easier, and it is sometimes necessary, to cut off the
offending right hand, to pluck out the offending right eye, or, putting
away the metaphor, to abstain rigidly from forms of activity which are
perfectly legitimate in themselves, and may be innocuous to other
people, if we find that they hurt us. But that is second best, and
though it is better in the judgment of common sense to go into life
maimed than complete to be cast into hell-fire, it is better still to go
into life symmetrical and entire, with no maiming in hand or organ. So
you do not offer the living sacrifice of the body when you annihilate,
but when you suppress, and direct, and hallow its needs, its appetites,
and its activities.

The meaning of this sacrifice is that the whole active life should be
based upon, and be the outcome of, the inward surrender of self unto
God. 'On the bells of the horses shall be written, Holiness to the Lord,
and every pot and vessel in Jerusalem shall be holy as the bowls upon
the altar'--in such picturesque and yet profound fashion did an ancient
prophet set forth the