Life is too short to live without purpose. It blows me away the number of people that I come into contact with who seem to have settled for vision-less living. There is absolutely no reason why any of us would need to live like that and yet so many do. When there is very little vision or purpose, that’s where laziness creeps in. I’m convinced that laziness is more of a symptom than a core struggle. It comes from a lack of vision and direction. People who don’t have vision and therefore don’t have much drive make for terrible employees. Proverbs 10:26 says…

As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so are sluggards to those who send them.

Sluggard simply means lazy. Regardless of whether you’re a boss, an employee or both, this is important to understand. People who have all kinds of vision for the future are generally not lazy. They see a picture of a preferable tomorrow and it clashes with the reality of today creating a fiery tension in their belly that they have to act on. This is important for both employers and employees. For leaders and those who are being led. As leaders we are called to be full of vision. Our job is to cast a compelling picture of the future in front of those who are following us that will give them something to fight for. It doesn’t matter what line of work you are in because this is applicable in any context. Life is meant to be lived on purpose and none of us need to settle for a life without vision. For those of us who are employees and following a certain leader, it’s our job to find out what the vision is and go after it. If the person you’re following or the leader you’re under doesn’t have a compelling vision, perhaps it’s time to find a new leader.

Life is so much more exciting when it’s lived on purpose. As this proverb says, we are not doing anyone any favors when we live without vision and are therefore lazy or just going through the motions. We’re like “smoke to the eyes” and “vinegar to the teeth.” It’s terrible to work with and for people who are lazy. They’re generally lazy because they just don’t have any fire in their gut when it comes to the future. I don’t know about you but I want to be around people who are world-changers. I want to be around people that wake up every morning with a sense of purpose. Life is so much more exciting around those types of people and life is just too short to be lived any other way.