Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-17

amendment. If 1t IL something good wnlch
we deny ourselves, then denial-if it be
nothing more than denial-means ssceticism.
Sacrifice, on the other hand, is the willing
and glad offering of something. 1t is an act
which Is done in the direction of the will.
We want to do it. It is easy. There is
no pain about it. It is not so much say
ing mo" to the body. as it is a saying yes"
to the soul. Self-denial and self-sacrifice
are alike in that each of them is an act OF
giving up. But one looks back, and the
other looks ahead. One means repression,
the other means aspiration. One is occu-
pied with the resolve not to do, the other
with the resolve to do something better.
ILLUSTRATED BY PARABLE.
These two ways of dealing with the body
have their difference emphasized in Christs
parable of the room that was swept and gar
nished and left empty. That is the symbol of
self-denial. Pretty soon, as our Lord shows,
that empty room is filled up with very OBJ
noxious visitors. The symbol OF self
sacrifice would be room which had been
swept and garnished, not simply that it
might be swept and earnished and that be
the end of it, but rather that it might be
ut place to entertain angels in. In the one
case the sweeper and garnisher would be
thinking about dust and cobwebs; in the
other case he would be thinking about
guests
All worthy living walks in the way of
sacrifice; the physician, the lawyer. the
clergyman, the merchant, are all the time
giving things up. But this is sell t-sacrifce,
whenever a man is in a calling which he
loves. 1t is not self-denial. 1t is not diff
cult putting away OF the worse; it is an
eager choosing of the better. That makes all
the difference in the world. A sacrifice may
be made of leisure, a sacrifice may De made
of the pleasures of society, but all the time
it is for the sake of something. It reaches
out toward an ideal. The scholar who for
goes his rest asks no pity. Rest is good, but
wisdom is better. He makes his willing
choice. The mother who loses her sleep in
the sickroom of her child never accounts
herself to be hardly used. This is not self
denial. She does not make hesitating res
olution, urged on by conscience, that she
will not sleep. She is intent upon her
child's health. She makes perfectly will
ing and glad sacrifice of everything which
may hinder the return of health.
A GREAT DrFFERENCE.
What difference there is between saying
''no" to the worse and SAYING Eyes" to the
betterl He who says Eyes" has an ideal be-
fore him; there is some inspiration in that.
He is following in the steps of Him who
came to do the will of Him that sent Him,
and who gladly gave up all the joys OF life
which stood in the way of the high purpose
of life. It was not in the spirit of repres-
sion or negation that Christ served the poor
and needy people about Him. He was
tired often, but not too tired to speak the
word of life to the nearest hearer as He sat
weary by the well in Samaria; not too tired,
even when He went across the lake
to get a breathing-time, in the days
when people crowded about Him so that He
found no space even to Getaway He went
across the lake into the quiet country, and
behold great multitude had gone on be-
fore Him, eager to be helped and healed
He was not too tired to heal and help them.
And He would not have called that q say
ing "no" to the longing for rest, rather q
saying ''yes" to the supreme desire of His
soul. He counted not even His life dear to
Himself, but endured the cross, despising
the shame. that He might fulfil that su-
preme and constant purpose, even our up
lifting and salvation.
Look into the face of Christ; set His life
before you as the ideal of your own life;
bend all your efforts toward the endeavor to
grow into His Likeness; all that is low, all
that is debasing, all that hinders, put away
behind you by pressing forward; for Christ's
love and in His service consecrate all that
is best in you to Him. Between the call of
the body to please itself and the call of the
body to please Him, choose the higher
always. Keep the body pure and strong for
Christ's sake, that you may the better serve
Him, and you have followed the words of
His apostles which we have been studying.
You have offered the living, and holy, and
acceptable sacrifice of the body.
GEORGE HODGES.