This is your mind on God

Romans 12: 2--

μὴ συσχηματίζεσθε τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ μεταμορφοῦσθε τῇ ἀνακαινώσει τοῦ νοὸς

Does the second word look familiar?  Here’s the transliteration:  syschēmatizesthe

Looks like schematize, right?

How about the seventh word?  Transliteration:  metamorphousthe

Metamorphosis anyone?

So Paul’s command to the Romans is something along the lines of “Do not be schematized into this age, but be “metamorphosis-ized” by the renewal of the mind.”

ἀνακαινώσει is a lovely noun with connotations of uplifting, refreshing, rejuvenating while νοὸς refers to the mind’s ability to think, reason, and analyze.

This passage of scripture suggests to me that a line of thought can be a means of grace.  God can use our thought process as a channel through which grace can flow.  However, not just any thought process can serve this function.  Some lines of thought simply follow and conform to a worldly order.  

Has an idea or line of argument ever transformed you?  What mental exercises leave you feeling renewed or uplifted?

There was an example of a new thought transforming someone in the Upper Room devotional for Sunday, May 5, 2013