Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 February 1875 — Promptness. [ARTICLE]

Promptness.

It is perhaps ndt an exaggeration to say that the great majority of failures which take place in the world is the result of tardiness or lack of punctuality. A young man starting out in life who neglects to meet his appointments has failure written on his brow. Observation bears testimony to the truth of this statement. The great men and great women who have succeeded in carrying off a prize in the race for influence—who have succeeded in embalming their memories in the hearts of subsequent generations, had this one indispensable qualification, viz.: punctuality. There may have been a few exceptions, but these only go to establish the general rule. You will find men in every locality who have had bright prospects in business and upon whom fortune seemed to smile who are to-day penniless just from their failure in this particular. They failed to see the connection between promptness and success. It is impossible t* calculate the amount of mischief resulting from this defect in character. It may at first glance seem wonderful how much our success depends upon this qualification. And yet when we look into the matter the wonder is how it could be otherwise. When we consider the time that is wasted—the chances of business that are lost —the disappointments caus'hd to others, it is not at all strange that so much loss results from this habit; we say habit, for we are firmly convinced that in the majority of-in-stances it is an excrescence upon our nature—something we allow to grow upon us lrom ignorance as to its disastrous consequences upon our life and prospects. There are persons who are invariably behind time (except perhaps at their meals). They miss trains, omnibuses — that is. provided their conveyances are not half an hour behind time. They fail promptly to meet their business engagements. Their liabilities at the bank falling due upon a certaintlay are forgotten. They take the three days’ grace and an hour besides. This spirit, in short, pervades all their actions. They miss their chances of success, and the result is they go down to their graves in poverty, if not disgrace. These are the results of tardiness in worldly matters, and how much more disastrous when this spirit pervades the church, when Christians disregard this great principle of success in their labors for Christ. How many schemes of religious enterprise fail through the want of punctuality. How many churches languish and die, so far as usefulness is concerned, on account of the lack of promptness on the part of the members. Notwithstanding the many reproofs and warnings from the "pulpit and through the press, men and women will persist in coming late to church. How frequently the preliminary exercises- are interspersed with a solo produced by some one walking up the aisle with a pair of new boots, attracting the attention of the Congregation from the most solemn and ■ sacred exercises

in which man can engage, viz..; addressing a throne of grace. No Christian can make his life a success and a blessing who ignores punctuality and promptness. Zeal lacking this Justification is like faith without works, tis dead. We of course make all due allowance for contingencies and unavoidable delays. There are times in the experience of each of us when promptness is impossible, but in nine cases out of ten the fault lies with ourseives. It is the result of habit and indifference. After a time it becomes chronic. As a general thing those who are behind time are always so. Religion is eminently an enthusiasm, and where this spirit exists will be no lagging behind. In the great battles that have decided the fate of nations the heroes havo been those who have moved forward resolutely and promptly at the first souna ol hattlel Nature also furnishes us ample illustrations of this great law of the Creator. Plants have their appointed times to bud and blossom and fill the air with their sweet fragrance. What an enthusiasm they all display in the early spring time. They all seem to be rivals seeking to offer their sweet incense upon the altar of consecration. All is a grand moving forward. Our own character ”as Christians not alone suffers by this disposition, but the example has the most injurious effect upon the outside world. The ungodly are good detectives in this matter. If a professing Christian fails in punctual and prompt attendance in the means of grace how quickly it will lie picked up as a shield for, their own neglect of these things.— Chicago Alliance.