I was motivated to choose the title for this sermon series during a chat I had with Zack Johnson, my ministry colleague at LAC. I told him that God was putting on my heart something about "making the most of every opportunity," as the Apostle Paul commands in both Colossians 4:5–6 and Ephesians 5:15–16. I mentioned to Zack that Jesus calls us not just to live lives resisting sin but to live intentionally looking for opportunities to use all that we are and have for the cause of Christ. And he said, "My life was changed by that message when I read a book by John Piper called Don't Waste Your Life." I said, "I like that phrase," and—voila—we have a series with that title at the beginning of 2011.
And, I do strongly recommend Piper's book. In it, he wrote, "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 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 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... 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. This is life for millions of people. Wasted life. We were created for more."
We certainly are created for more. Many of us think that life is all about going to the best possible school, getting the best paying job, starting the best family we can, and then retiring early. But, retiring to do what? None of these things is necessarily bad. But, we need to overhaul the way we think about life's purpose. God's Word provides that new perspective for us and, this weekend, we will see that a life that is not wasted begins by looking at the God in whose image we are made.
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
