I guess I must have heard of John Piper, but I hadn't read any of his books - until now. From the attention-grabbing title and dedication to Louie Giglio (whose DVD's called Indescribable and How Great is our God, have enthralled us recently), to the final chapter, which is a prayer, Don't Waste Your Life was a book that I could hardly put down.
This is his personal quest to discover and challenge a generation, preoccupied with living a life of comfort and pleasure, not to get caught up in living a life that counts for nothing. His challenge is not to live so that we are "made much of, but to make much of him (Jesus) in every part of our lives". To live with a single passion: the glory of God in all things, is presented in a style and format that draws the reader away from their own selfish ambition to consider the time when we will all one day stand before Christ and give an account of our life.
Through personal anecdotes and stories gathered from history John Piper presents the case of those who have demonstrated, like the Apostle Paul, that "for me to live is Christ, to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21) and those who have wasted the one opportunity we have to live life with a passion for God.
He is the master of the superlative in describing the potential of our lives. The purpose of every chapter is to confront our cozy lifestyles and make us stand up and be counted among those heroes of the faith, those martyrs of yesterday and increasingly of today. Titles like 'Boasting Only in the Cross, The Blazing Center of the Glory of God' and 'Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5' show that what we think and dream and plan and work can all be encompassed in that single passion.
His plea to not waste you life is presented in a balanced practical way. He is not cavalier, on the contrary, he exudes humility and fervour, but his obsession is to joyfully display God's "supreme excellence in all the spheres of life".
I would strongly recommend this book to everyone. You will either love it or hate it, but you shouldn't ignore it.
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