Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Ephesians 5:16
“I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider a story from the February 1998 edition of Reader’s Digest, which tells about a couple who “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.”
At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn’t. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life—your one and only precious, God-given life—and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells.
Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: ‘Look, Lord. See my shells.’ That is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. Over against that, I put my protest: Don’t buy it. Don’t waste your life.”
John Piper in Don’t Waste Your Life (Wheaton: Crossway, 2003) 45–46.
This quote is famous. Perhaps it’s familiar to you. Two things directed me to it two days ago. It’s all I could about yesterday, so it’s today’s post. First, I saw a seashell on an online Hilton banner advertisement yesterday. Then last night, I was watching the movie, Ironman, with my wife. In the scene where Tony Stark escapes from the cave with the help of Professor Ho Yinsen, we see the professor die to set him free. These were his last words to Stark (click to watch the one minute clip): “Don’t waste your life!”
Special thanks to Tim Macready, my mate down under at Christian Super, for sharing this seven-minute video with me a while back in which John Piper tells the full story. It’s powerful! I share this quote and these clips to remind everyone today to live every day generously for Jesus, because He died to give us the life we enjoy now and the gift of life eternal with Him! Don’t buy the American Dream! Don’t spend your days collecting shells and playing softball. Don’t waste your one and only precious, God-given life!