john piper
CROSSWAY BOOKS
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Copyright © 2003 by Desiring God Foundation
Published by Crossway Books
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.
Italics in biblical quotes indicate emphasis added.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from: The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Other Scripture quotations are from:
The Holy Bible, New International Version (niv). © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, King James Version (kjv)
Cover design: Josh Dennis
Cover photo: Getty Images
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Piper, John, 1946-
Don’t waste your life / John Piper.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 13: 978-1-58134-498-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 10: 1-58134-498-8
1. Christian life. I. Title
BV4501.3.P555 2003
248.4—dc21 2003007833
Louie Giglio
and the passion of his heart
for the renown of Jesus Christ
in this generation
Preface
For Christians and Non-Christians
1 My Search for a Single Passion to Live By
2 Breakthrough—the Beauty of Christ, My Joy
3 Boasting Only in the Cross, The Blazing Center of the Glory of God
4 Magnifying Christ Through Pain and Death
5 Risk Is Right—Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It
6 The Goal of Life—Gladly Making Others Glad in God
7 Living to Prove He Is More Precious Than Life
8 Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5
9 The Majesty of Christ in Missions and Mercy—A Plea to This Generation
10 My Prayer—Let None Say in the End, “I’ve Wasted It”
For Christians and Non-Christians
The Bible says, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). I have written this book to help you taste those words as sweet instead of bitter or boring.
You are in one of two groups: Either you are a Christian, or God is now calling you to be one. You would not have picked up this book if God were not at work in your life.
If you are a Christian, you are not your own. Christ has bought you at the price of his own death. You now belong doubly to God: He made you, and he bought you. That means your life is not your own. It is God’s. Therefore, the Bible says, “Glorify God in your body.” God made you for this. He bought you for this. This is the meaning of your life.
If you are not yet a Christian, that is what Jesus Christ offers: doubly belonging ...
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About Don’t Waste Your LifeJohn Piper writes, “I will tell you what a tragedy is. 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 59 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. “God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives.” Most people slip by in life without a passion for God, spending their lives on trivial diversions, living for comfort and pleasure, and perhaps trying to avoid sin. This book will warn you not to get caught up in a life that counts for nothing. It will challenge you to live and die boasting in the cross of Christ and making the glory of God your singular passion. If you believe that to live is Christ and to die is gain, read this book, learn to live for Christ, and don’t waste your life. |
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