A Living Sacrifice

Paul told the Romans, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1).  The idea of a "living sacrifice," when considered in the context of the kind of sacrifice the Lord required of his people for 4000 years, is a gospel paradox.  How can you sacrifice an animal (i.e. kill it on the altar), and yet have it be living?  Adam and his posterity were commanded to offer "the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord" (Moses 5:5).  It was always a dead sacrifice that was given by the Lord's people, up until the fulfilling of the Law of Moses.  Paul's suggestion to the Romans was that the sacrifice to be offered was our own lives, in particular our "service."  That is really the great sacrifice of our day as followers of Christ.  The Savior put it this way when He came to the Nephites: "And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood.... And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit" (3 Nephi 9:19-20).  Again, the sacrifice is of ourselves, not of our possessions.  It's usually not that hard to offer things like the Law of Moses required; what is difficult is to offer our desires and our time and our selfishness.  A broken heart, contrite spirit, and service to the Lord means that we put aside our own will and spend time the way that the Savior would have us.  Paul himself was an excellent example of giving this kind of living sacrifice.  He spent his whole life after his conversion preaching the gospel, "labouring night and day" in "labour and travail" (1 Thessalonians 2:9).  He served several missions, traveling from Jerusalem to Asia (i.e. Turkey) to Rome and probably even to Spain.  His diligence in serving the Lord is evident in the last verses of the book of Acts.  Paul was in prison in Rome, "preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him" (Acts 28:31).  And that's how the book ends with Paul, as always, preaching the gospel.  He was, indeed, a living sacrifice for the Lord because he gave up all of his time to serve the Savior.  Of course, ultimately it is the Savior who is the perfect of example of sacrifice; but more than being just an example, He is the living sacrifice.  He died out of perfect love and obedience as He wrought the atonement, and yet He is alive, remaining forever the living sacrifice of the Father.