For those of you who came on the retreat and received a copy of Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life, I hope you’re enjoying the book as much as I am.

Here are some choice quotations that I’ve read. What have been your favorite sections and why?

“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 stuff on the weekend–woven around church (mostly). This is life for millions of people. Wasted life. We were created for more, far more.” (119)

“At these moments, when the trifling fog of life clears and I see what I am really on earth to do, I groan over the petty pursuits that waste so many lives–and so much of mine. Just think of the magnitude of sports–a whole section of the daily newspaper. But there is no section on God. Think of the endless resources for making your home and garden more comfortable and impressive. Think of how many tens of thousnds of dollars you can spend to buy more car than you need. Think of the time and energy and conversation that go into entertainment and leisure and what we call “fun stuff.” And add to that now the computer that artificially recreates the very games that are already so distant from reality; it is like a multi-layered dreamworld of insignificance expanding into nothingness.” (125)

“God created me–and you–to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion–namely, to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life.” (31)

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