Success Is Never Final…

THERE is a challenging sentence which says that “success is never final.” There are many men who seem to be successful up to a point_and then something happens. Some win honors and achieve distinction in school years who seem to fail in meeting the more serious issues of life. There are some who are precocious as children, whose early success is not sustained. There are those who enjoy much popularity in their youth, but who later fail to fulfill the promise of their youth. On the other hand, there are “ugly ducklings,” so to speak, who were overshadowed when they were young, but who achieve distinction in years of maturity. There are those who die too soon for success; there are those who die in the full flush of success; and there are those who outlive their own success. There are those who go through much of their lives, respected and in good conduct, who later make serious mistakes and lose all the reputation for success they ever had, some on moral grounds, some on financial grounds, some for causes unknown. But if they had died before they made such mistakes, might they not well have been accounted successful? Where fair judgment and justice lie in such questions would be beyond the power of mere men to say, and it is fortunate that the final appraisal of success in life rests with the Lord God and not with any mortal judge. But may we not surmise this much: that it is the whole story of a man’s life that must ultimately determine whether or not he is successful, and not any single page or chapter of it? And there are none so young but what their performance has its effect upon the whole of their lives, and none so old as to place them and their actions beyond judgment. A little foolishness may destroy a long-standing reputation for wisdom, and a little brilliance may seem to cover a multitude of sins. But life is not a thing that begins and ends at two definable points. It is an eternal journey, to endless destinations; and the highest reward is for consistency of performance_not merely for occasional flashes of brilliance, or isolated acts of goodness, or brief periods of dependability. It is still true, as it was when it was anciently spoken, that he “that endureth to the end” has the greatest assurance of success and the greatest promise of having the labors of his life pronounced “Well done.”