As he lay in bed listening to an expositional sermon on the college radio station, he realized that “ultimate Reality had suddenly centered…on the Word of God.” (23) There remained yet the battle with “hermeneutical subjectivism,” one of the theological experiments of the 70s but with the help of his seminary hermeneutics instructor and Jonathan Edwards’ writings, Piper concluded that the Bible does mean what it says. When his intended career as a medical doctor was derailed early by illness, Piper began to consider the call to preach.

Most significantly, God was pursuing him. Growing up in the 50s and turbulent 60s, he found plenty of contradictory material for consideration, from popular music to mainstream evangelical thought however, he was strongly influenced by Francis Schaeffer and the works of C.S. This initiated Piper’s quest to make his life profitable and meaningful, which he describes in the first several chapters.

He told the story of a hardened sinner who finally experienced the joy of conversion in his old age, but who lamented bitterly as he realized he had wasted his life. When John Piper was a child, his father used a sermon illustration that made a great impression on him. Piper’s thesis is that many people will waste their lives simply because they do not realize that pursuing their true joy and glorifying God are one and the same. However, even Christians tend to see glorifying God and enjoying life as mutually exclusive. Actual goals vary Christians recognize (in theory, at least) that their life’s purpose is to glorify God in whatever they do.

Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper