# “Look, Lord. See my shells.” by John Piper

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2009/01/13/look-lord-see-my-shells-by-john-piper/
- Published: 2009-01-13T14:51:35-06:00
- Author: tollelege

“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, _[Don’t Waste Your Life](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1433580772?tag=toletaupanre-20)_(
Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2003), 45–6.

More quotes from [John Piper](https://tollelege.net/category/john-piper/)

## Comments

### By: Andrew Bartosik

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2009/01/13/look-lord-see-my-shells-by-john-piper/comment-page-1/#comment-10481
- Published: 2017-03-04T00:55:39-06:00

Reblogged this on [Forever-Minded](http://andrewbartosik.com/2017/03/03/look-lord-see-my-shells-by-john-piper/)
and commented:
 Important.