Your Top Three Words

Three words can sure say a lot, especially if they are clarifying words that follow a comma. Examples:

“She is my mother, an amazing lady.”

“It’s my hometown, glad I left.”

“They’re serving Thai food, my favorite kind.”

A simple, post-comma, three-word supplement can change the entire emphasis of a sentence. Consider the list of Jesus’ original twelve apostles as found in the third chapter of the Gospel of Mark. The final name on the list belongs to Judas, and in verse 19 it reads this way: “Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.”

It wasn’t just Judas. Nor was it simply Judas Iscariot. It was Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him. That was his legacy. Those three supplemental words describe how Judas Iscariot will be remembered all throughout human history. He was the one who betrayed Jesus.

While you and I are still living we have a chance to answer the comma and determine what gets written after it. Someday our parenting will be described after a comma. As will our relationships, our ministries, and the way we have lived our lives.

Let’s determine in advance what gets written there. It does not have to read like the  Judas’ did. It could read like the Apostle John’s. Of John, the Bible says, “One of them, whom Jesus loved, was there…” (John 13:23, ESV)

If there is still breath in your lungs there is time to alter what comes after the comma. If you regret the words that currently follow you around, it is not too late to craft a different ending. And as you craft it, please remember, you are the disciple whom Jesus loved!