Don't Waste Your Life

I have been finishing the pile of books that I have started reading. As I have said before, I have a habit of starting another book even though I have a stack of books that I have not finished yet. Don't Waste Your Life is a book that I had started at the beginning of summer and added to my rotation of books. I have a fiction, nonfiction and two or three theology books going at all times, although I think that a week or two ago I was up to eight books I was reading on at once. Yet I know where I am at in each book. My mind is weird that way. I have finished four of the eight books in the past week, so I have some reviews to do!

Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper was the book chosen by our church staff as the summer reading book. I have been wanting to read the book for a while, but had refrained from buying it until this summer. One thing that I like about John Piper is that you can feel his passion for the glory of God and his love for the church. The book is challenging and encouraging at the same time, as are all of the books that I have read by him. One of the stories that he tells is about a couple in their 50s who have retired and are spending their time playing golf and sailing and doing other recreational things with their time. Although so many in our culture would consider that the ideal life, he calls it out for what it is - a wasted life. Throughout the book, he is encouraging his readers to begin to evaluate their lives and make sure that it is not wasted but glorifying God.

There is a strong emphasis on missions (as their should be), but I think that Piper does a good job of pointing out that not everyone is called to vocational missions, but if we are working in secular jobs, we are called to support those who are working for God's kingdom vocationally. Sometimes it is hard to see how secular work can glorify God, but Piper encourages the church to have a different perspective of work - providing the means to fund God's kingdom work as well as the discipline and witness that you can be while working. If we looked at our money as an opportunity to fund missions (year round and not just at the special emphasis times), it makes our work even more meaningful.

I highly recommend this book for young and old. It encourages the young to adopt this perspective early in life. It encourages the older persons to adopt this perspective before a whole life is wasted or the latter years are wasted. Too many times I think that even those in the church think it is their time to rest but we are called to work for God's kingdom until we die. In some ways this book is the positive point of view whereas Solomon in Ecclesiastes contains the negative point of view by painting the picture of a wasted life. Don't Waste Your Life is a good read, and more importantly, not a waste of time.