On my flight yesterday morning, I asked two fellow California-bound travelers, “What do you think a conference about not wasting your life would be about?”

“I think of a self-help program with some guy giving ten easy steps for how to not waste your life,” was Eric’s response.

Ben had the same notion, only a little more specific: “It sounds like a self-help group that’s focused on career development.”

“What is a wasted life?” I then asked.

Eric didn’t hesitate: “It’s when someone doesn’t challenge themselves and doesn’t constantly seek new experiences in life.”

“It’s when someone doesn’t seek the good of society but only seeks to benefit themselves,” said Ben.

John Piper just finished his first of three messages on this theme of Don't Waste Your Life, here in San Luis Obispo.

Read or listen to what he has to say about “The Essence of the Unwasted Life.”