I love word clouds. These computer-generated word assortments depict the frequency, size, or relative importance of the words on a website or print document.
The main thing I love about word clouds is that they don’t lie. You may think the theme of your website or document is one thing, but the word cloud will tell you what your REAL message is.
If you do a word cloud of the Gospel of Matthew, for example, it should be no surprise that the name Jesus is very BIG. The other key words are God and Kingdom.
In contrast, the word “church” is only used in two passages of Matthew (16:18 & 18:17), and these are the only times it is mentioned in the four Gospels. Think about this for a moment. Is it possible we’ve sometimes been guilty of magnifying the church as even bigger than the kingdom—or even bigger than Jesus Himself?
The beauty of word clouds is not only the words that turn out to be BIG and bold, but also the ones that are SMALL and faint. What a wonderful illustration of life’s priorities.
So, what if someone created a word cloud of your life—your words, thoughts, motives, and actions? What words would be BIG, and which ones would be SMALL? Would JESUS and KINGDOM be big or small? Would you be encouraged by your life’s word cloud, or embarrassed? Would you be willing to have the words projected on a screen for all to see?
The good news is that there’s still time to improve your life’s word cloud. Of course, this won’t be an easy process. You will have to deny yourself daily, take up your cross, and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23).
But changing your word cloud will be worth it. Just think of the beautiful new picture God will create as Jesus increases and you decrease (John 3:30).
