Don't Waste Your Life (Redesign)

by John Piper and Piper

Book Overview

Over 650,000 Copies Sold

"If you live gladly to make others glad in God, your life will be hard, your risks will be high, and your joy will be full."

The American Dream beckons people to spend their lives on trivial diversions, slipping through life caught up with seeking success, comfort, and pleasure above all else. But God designed people for far more than this.

In...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1433555506
• ISBN13: 9781433555503
• Release Date: March 2018
• Publisher: Crossway
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Tough questions to think about and to understand.

Hard hitting thoughts. Chapters three and four were hard for me to understand but seven and eight made up for it. I am not young, but the book hit home for me too. It inspired me. Loved some of the previous reviews and I will read another Piper book.

I know the read will be very good! I ordered a book that was supposed to be like new and it was very

I know the read will be very good! I ordered a book that was supposed to be like new and it was very very used.:(

Bookblog: Don't Waste Your Life

From http://russreaves.blogspot.com Having heard John Piper speak at the NC Evangelism Conference (by the way -- great conference and the messages are available for free download at www.calvarynow.com/evangelism), and knowing that he was preparing for major prostate surgery, I felt compelled to read yet another of the works of this great man of God. When I met Dr. Piper at the Conference, I found him to be a gracious and humble man. I told him that I had quoted him so often in conversation that my wife just assumed that he died 200 years ago (I don't quote many who are still around -- dead preachers don't change their minds). He chuckled with me about that, and assured me, just days before his surgery that he was "alive and well." He did endure that surgery very well from reports I read online, and for that we praise God. Now on to the book -- Don't Waste Your Life. What drew me to the book was the humbling story that graces the back of the book. "I will tell you what a tragedy is," Piper writes. "I will show you how to waste your life. Consider this story from the February 1998 Reader's Digest: A couple 'took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 50 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball, and collect shells. ...' Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: 'Look Lord. See my shells.' That is a tragedy." As I read those words, I thought, "Oh my! That is the American Dream isn't it?" That is what most of the folks in the congregations I have served would think is success in life. And I confess that on far too many days, that is what I long for more than the daily grind of being stretched and stressed in the work of ministry. But like a mirror -- not one of those funhouse mirrors that you know is making fun of how you look -- but a true mirror that reveals the awful blemish that scars us, Piper's words pierced me. Inside the pages of the book, the wound grew deeper, but it was a cut toward healing. Piper's autobiographical glimpses in the early chapters are a blessing to one like me who has enjoyed his writings for many years. Many of the phrases that recur in all of his writings ("God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him," "Missions exists because worship does not", et al.) are found in this book as well, but his autobiographical sketch allows us to follow him on the life journey that led to the discovery of these wonderful truths. A theme that I am seeing more and more of in Piper's writings is that being loved by God does not mean that God makes much of us, but rather that God has done all that is necessary to enable us to make much of Him forever. Three main points I want to highlight here are Piper's comments on suffering, on vocation, and on global missions. Several years ago, I read a chapter written by Piper in a book on expository preaching called Feed My Sheep. That chapter was on preachin

Sends an important wake-up call to the Christian.

It seems that Christian publishers tend to simultaneously release books that deal with similar themes (work of the Holy Spirit, grace, etc.). The latest trend appears to be on rising above the ordinary and living passionately for Christ. "Don't Waste Your Life" is a stand-out book among this crowd. John Piper is one of the giants of modern Christian writing, and this book is another showcase of his gifts. Movies and TV series like "Office Space" and "The Office" strike a nerve because we identify with their main theme - the futility of the average life. How many of us feel that we've somehow managed to settle for complacency and boredom instead of the risk and passion that we dream about? In the Christian's case, how many are just playing it safe by focusing on the 'thou-shalt-nots' instead of actually stepping out in faith to DO God's will? These are difficult questions to answer honestly, but we must do so for our own eternal good. For as Piper states, "only what's done for Christ will last." Each chapter of "Don't Waste Your Life" deals with different aspects of magnifying Christ. Risk-taking, suffering, and the workplace are all arenas where we can glorify God and enjoy Him as we lead our daily lives. However, the last chapter reveals Piper's heart: missions. Ultimately, the overarching theme of this book is winning others to Christ by our lives, and if necessary, by our words. To that end, Piper implores the reader "in the name of Jesus to wake up, and enlarge your heart, and stretch your mind, and spread your wings." For when all is said and done, what really matters is that those who are lost are lost no more.

Learn how to avoid wasting your life

Piper is the C.S. Lewis of our time. He writes another amazing book with this latest effort. Piper posits that we waste our life unless we live with a single passion to enjoy and display God's glory in all things for the joy of all peoples. Piper explains how we can magnify Christ through pain and death, taking risks for the kingdom, making others glad in God, and making much of Christ in all spheres of life, even at work. If you dare to dream of being a radical disciple of Jesus, read this book. You will not be disappointed.

Incredible, challenging read

I agree with the gist of the other reviewers.I would also like to add that this book is probably a bit more hard hitting than his other stuff. He comes right out and calls people to bigger and better things. I can imagine some people actually being offended by some things that he says - that simply going to work and raising your kids aren't all that God has called you to. There's a great calling to consider cross-cultural missions work. :) He says things like: "Oh, how many lives are wasted by people who believe that the Christian life means simply avoiding badness and providing for the family. So there is no adultery, no stealing, no killing, no embezzlement, no fraud - just lots of hard work during the day, and lots of TV and PG-13 videos in the evening (during quality family time), and lots of fun stuf on the weekend - woven around church (mostly). This is life for millions of people. Wasted life. We were created for more." and"God does not promise enough food for comfort or for life - he promises enough so that you can trust him and do his will."All in all, it's a great book, and a little more application than Desiring God. A little easier read, in that it's not as theologically heavy, I think. Definitely quality

Worth a little time

Those familiar with Piper have come to expect Scripture saturated pleadings to readers to find their ultimate fulfillment and joy in "all that God is for us in Christ." For those unfamiliar with Piper, he is a passionate writer and pastor who spurs his readers to greater depths of devotion to God and sacrificial living. He is typically motivating and convicting. In this book, short by Piper's standards, he drives home the biblical principle that we must give up our lives to find them. Piper applies this passion for Christ in different areas of life: work, relationships, missions, etc. The chapters on risk-taking and work are alone worth the price of the book. I highly reccommend this book as a gift for graduates and college students, but it is worth reading for every believer who doesn't want to waste their life.