Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).

Not your heart?

Nope.

Your mind.

Sure, God works in your heart too, but the transformation Paul is talking about here comes through your mind.

What you think about.

How you think about it.

How you make your decisions.

How you look at the world.

In case you hadn’t noticed, we live in a sinful, broken world.  Growing up in it, surrounded by the messages that society puts out, well, it warps our minds.

There it is, Beloved.  You have a warped mind.

It’s kinda like putting on your friend’s eyeglasses.  Everything looks wrong, distorted, and out of whack.

God wants to put you back in whack.  He wants to renew your mind.

Some parts of the renewal are immediate, like taking off your friend’s glasses and putting on your own.  When you came to Christ, the Holy Spirit came to live within you, and certain things changed immediately.  You saw sin as bondage, for example, and wondered how you could ever have thought it was freedom.

Other parts of the transformation take more time.  They’re like the caterpillar, quietly waiting in its cocoon, allowing God to work his will in his own way, in his own time.  God uses his word, day by day, little by little, to transform the way you think, the way you see the world around you.  He is gentle and patient, because your brain is a fragile little thing, and you’re of little use to him in a catatonic state.  But if you remain in the word, he will continue to work in you, until the butterfly is released.

That’s an awful lot of metaphor for a Thursday.

Rest today, Beloved.  Rest in the knowledge that he is a work in you, even now.