Success or Failure

One hears so much in life about success and failure. Men sweat, toil, and sell their souls for this thing called success. When is a man a success in life? When is he a failure? By this we mean not a success for one year or thirty years, or a success in medicine or law or politics, but a success with regard to his whole life. The answer to this question is simple and lies in another question. When is any mechanism a success or when is it a failure? Men have only one norm of judging a computer, a cell phone, the most expensive car or the latest contraption whatever. The norm is this: does the equipment in question do the thing well that it was made to do or does it not?
The same norm applies to men. An instrument is something made by another for a purpose. Man conforms to that definition precisely. Man did not make himself or set for himself the purpose of his existence. God did both of these things. Therefore, man must discover two things: the purpose of his existence, and the means to accomplish the purpose. No matter what else he accomplishes in life, if he does not do the thing he was made to do like any instrument, he is a failure. He may become a great doctor or lawyer or businessman, but essentially he was never made for any of these things. Essentially, he was made to praise, reverence, and serve God and, by so doing, to save his immortal soul. If he does that, he is a complete success; if he fails in this, nothing else matters; he is a failure forever.
The question proposed above is a great leveler. It is no respecter of persons. A man, when he comes to the end of his days on earth—whether he be rich or poor, young, or old—must stand before Christ and answer just one question: “Son did you do the thing I made you to do or not?” On the answer to that question hangs the fate of the man for eternity.