and a blessing to the world. The altar stands in the foreground of
every life, and can be passed by only at the cost of all that is
noblest and best.

All the practical side of religion is summed up in the exhortation of
St. Paul, that we present our bodies a living sacrifice to God.
Anciently, a man brought a lamb and presented it to God, laid it on the
altar, to be consumed by God's fire. In like manner, we are to present
our bodies. The first thing is not to be a worker, a preacher, a saver
of souls; the very first thing in a Christian life is to present one's
self to God, to lay one's self on the altar. We need to understand
this. It is easier to talk and work for Christ than to give ourselves
to him. It is easier to offer God a few activities than to give him a
heart. But the heart must be first, else even the largest gifts and
services are not acceptable.

"'Tis not thy work the Master needs, but thee,--
The obedient spirit, the believing heart."

"A living sacrifice." A sacrifice is something really given to God, to
be his altogether and forever. We cannot take it back any more. One
could not lay a lamb on God's altar and then a minute or two afterward
run up and take it off. We cannot be God's to-day and our own
to-morrow. If we become his at all, in a sacrifice which he accepts,
we are his always.

How can we present ourselves as a sacrifice to God? By the complete
surrender of our heart and will and all our powers to him. Absolute
obedience is consecration. The soldier learns it. He is not his own.
He does not think for himself, to, make his own plans; he has but one
duty--to obey. Payson used to talk of his "lost will"--lost in God's
will, he meant. That is what presenting one's self a sacrifice means.

It is a "living" sacrifice. Anciently, the sacrifices were killed;
they were laid dead on the altar. We are to present ourselves living.
The fire consumed the ancient offering; the fire of God's love and of
his Spirit consumes our lives by purifying them and filling them with
divine life. Those on whom the fire fell on the day of Pentecost
became new men. There was a new life in their souls, a new ardor, a
new enthusiasm. They were on fire with love for Christ. They entered
upon a service in which all their energies flamed.

The living sacrifice includes all the life,--not what it is now only,
but all that it may become. Life is not a diamond, but a seed, with
possibilitie