Last winter, I was sick. The flu. It took about 2 1/2 weeks before I was able to return to the roof. However, those few weeks marked one of the spiritual highlights in my life. There is something about being too sick to do anything that causes you to take a panoramic view of your life, and evaluate what you are living for. We may say that we value the glory of God above all else, but how we spend our time is the true indicator. I realized that my life was very much consumed with my life and my future and my career and financial security. I no longer could fool myself into believing that my heart was obsessed with pursuing God's glory.
The Lord was extremely faithful during that time to meet me in His Word. All I did was cough, pray, sneeze, sleep and read. 
So that is when I found John Piper's book, "Don't waste your life." I was first encouraged that this book was relatively thin compared to some of the man's other works. So I set out to read it during my affliction.
For two weeks (I am a slow reader), I read and wept through this book. The message of the book is simple. Piper quotes 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body," and he states, 'I have written this book to help you taste those words as sweet instead of bitter or boring.'
That is exactly what this book did for me.
I think that the message of this book strikes a very deep chord in the heart of men. We have grown up, knowing in our hearts that we were created to pursue greatness. The world deceives us into pursuing are own greatness, and therefore living the emptiest of all lives. However, today in Christ, we can once again gird ourselves for battle, and pursue true greatness. God's greatness. His glory. His kingdom. This is a fight characterized by selfless love, revolutionary servant-hood, abandon to the Gospel, and a willingness to make the extreme sacrifice in order to see Christ worshiped.
"There is a warning. The path of God-exalting joy will cost you your life. Jesus said, Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.' In other words, it is better to lose your life than to waste it. 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. This is not a book about how to avoid a wounded life, but how to avoid a wasted life. Some of you will die in the service of Christ. That will not be a tragedy. Treasuring life above Christ is a tragedy." Piper, in the pre.face
The book gets better, so read it! My mom, sisters, brother in law, and many friends have read it since my recovery, and they too were affected. If you read this book with the Bible open before you, you will see that Piper is not introducing new and revolutionary concepts, but biblical truths that ought to never lose their wonder.
I am reading through this book a second time with my 15 year old brother Aaron, and 13 year old brother Matthew. Join us!
Dan
"Dreaming about providence and whether mice and men have second tries. Maybe we’ve been living with eyes half open, maybe we're bent and broken.
We want more than this world's got to offer. We want more than the wars of our father. And everything inside screams for second life.
We were meant to live for so much more. Have we lost our selves? Somewhere we live inside"
Switchfoot, Meant to Live
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