John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life has been long awaiting my reading on my imaginary nightstand, but the title has fascinated me since the first time I heard it. Each human must face the inevitable fact that our days are numbered. But the good news is that God has placed each of us in a specific time and place, uniquely chosen to further our spiritual growth and bring Himself glory.  

Many college blogs contain numbered lists of “things you shouldn’t miss,” “tips for thriving freshman year,” “getting along with your roommate,” and “how to pack for the college dorm.” I will readily grant that these blogs contain practical, helpful information. I have made use of these blogs as I prepared for college and imagined what college life would entail. However, as I ponder the last four years of my life, I realize that one thing I really needed to hear was: “don’t waste your life.”  

I have learned that it is far too easy to overly anticipate the next step in life. In high school, we want college to arrive more quickly. In college, we anticipate the job we want after we graduate. During the year, we want summer to come, yet during the summer, we are eager to return to our college communities. In the middle of the day, we long for the class period to be over. During the week, we long for the weekend.  

As humans, we struggle to remain content in the present moment, whether that moment is as small as a class period or as large as the entirety of college. So often we deceive ourselves by thinking that our lives will begin once we get to the next step, but we forget that our present lives are not an accident. We must live for God now. Not just when we graduate, when we get a job, or when we get married. Now is the time to develop habits that encourage spiritual growth — daily Scripture reading and praying, getting involved in our local churches, building friendships, and practicing hospitality.  

College is not a vacuum or a box that must be checked before we encounter real life. On the contrary, it can be a time of intense spiritual growth as many of us leave home for the first time and grapple with what it means to make our faith our own. We do well to plan for the time ahead, but we cannot neglect the potential fruitfulness of today. We cannot assume that our lives will suddenly feel complete when a diploma is handed to us or we accept a job offer. We must build patterns of contentment and faithfulness throughout our lives, and the season of college is no exception.  

Psalm 90:10,12 says: “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away ... So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Of course, we are not guaranteed any particular number of years on earth, but this should encourage us to make the best use of the time for each day that God gives us.

So when your class seems eternal, ask God to help you focus and delight in the material you get to learn. When you long for leisure time, learn to make wise decisions about how you use evenings and weekends. When you wish that you had the means to practice hospitality in your own home, gather a group of friends to make a potluck meal together in someone's apartment. And when the college years stretch long before you, consider how you could serve the Lord and the body of Christ better in your current situation. Try to see every circumstance as an opportunity for growth in Christ. Seek the Lord’s strength in the small things as well as the great.  

In closing, C.S. Lewis discusses the eternal significance of every small choice that we make. He says: “Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before.” (Mere Christianity, book III, chapter 4). It is not wrong to make plans or even be excited about the future, but we cannot forget that it is the faithful, moment-by-moment decisions that will over time forge us more into the likeness of Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. 

Sarabeth Schuck ‘25