Meditation: The Key to Transformation
You know Alice, right? The little girl with the big imagination who follows a white rabbit down a hole. Bored with her life, she envisions a world where she can change sizes, converse with caterpillars, and avoid the Queen of Hearts who tries to chop her head off.
I’ll admit I’ve never read the entire classic book, Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. But I’ve seen the animated version with the blonde girl and rabbit with a waistcoat. Alice is led through a series of seemingly random scenes, and in the end (spoiler alert!) it’s all a dream to escape her boring life.
Cultural media seems to keep promising escapes like this one, doesn’t it? With every movie, television show, and newest best seller, they all promise to help us escape, even if it’s into our own minds.
What if, instead, our minds are actually the key to finding peace, contentment, and joy in our lives right now?
I’m not offering a magical formula to transcend reality, but a new way to look at our lives. Most of us have things in our lives we’d like to change. For many of us, the key to transformation has less to do with our circumstances and more to do with our perspective.
DON’T THINK LIKE THE WORLD
Paul, the author of Romans, did not live in the same culture as we do today, but many things were the same. Sin, alternative lifestyles, and corrupt governments were very much a part of his time. The phrase “this world” mentioned in Romans 12:2 was more than just the people who didn’t believe like the Christians. When Paul says “do not be conformed to this world,” he is specifically talking about worldly thinking.
Paul’s warning is simple. Don’t get caught up in the world’s way of thinking. If we do, we will “be conformed.” Basically, Paul is saying if we let the world’s type of thinking infiltrate our minds, we will end up—one way or another—changing everything about ourselves. Don’t do it. Alice let her thinking lead her down a rabbit hole.
As silly as this children’s tale is, we ought to heed the warning. Don’t fall down the rabbit hole of culture. Don’t peak over into the rabbit hole of the world. Don’t venture down into the dark. There’s a better way.
Instead, Paul goes on to say we need to be “transformed,” which is the Greek word metamorphousthe. We have similar words in English, such as metamorphosis. It means to change to another form or to look different.
As Christians, we will look different than the world around us. Alice went through so many changes, yet in the end she was still just Alice. The change we are looking for is the same change Christ made. The same word in Romans 12:2 is also used in Matthew 17:2 when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain. Again, in 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul uses this word to describe how we, as Christians, are being made to be like Christ.
Our transformation is not random. It is specific in its goal: We are to be like Christ.
NOT A PIECE OF CAKE
As a child I remember watching Alice eat the little pieces of cake and change her size. At only 4’11”, I have always been short. So being taller appealed to me. I wished I could have just eaten cake to change my appearance. In the Christian life, we are called to change, too. However, there is no cake involved (sorry!).
The apostle Paul predicates true change on the “renewing of” our minds. The word “renewing” is a verb that has the connotation of a renovation. When builders want to redo a house, they first tear down the old and then build the new. It is hard work. It takes a constant tearing down and constant building to transform our minds. We are dead to our old ways but alive in Christ. There is a continual dying (Col. 3:3). This is a deliberate choice.
In this transformation, how do we know the mind of Christ (Eph. 4:23 and Col. 1:1–3)? The Spirit does! Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 2:11, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him. So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” The way we develop the mind of Christ is through the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit helps believers pursue the things of God. Colossians 3:1–3 continues this train of thought. There are two verbs in this passage. The first is “seek.” Keep looking for answers. What I love about Alice’s story is that she keeps going. No matter how hard or strange, she keeps looking for answers. As we walk the Christian life we will not always understand all that happens to us. Alice met Twiddle Dum and Twiddle Dee, but we might meet Sorrow and Joy. As we look for answers, we seek them in Christ by the Spirit.
The other verb is “set.” Paul says we must set our minds on things above. Alice was distracted in her journey, but we have to stay focused. Nothing robs our peace quicker than when our hearts and minds start thinking about our circumstances.
We keep looking to Christ and remember our home is not this earth. There is life beyond the grave, and our Father has not forgotten us.
MEDITATE ON GOD’S WORD
In Philippians 4:7–8 we read how we can have peace. Paul says to “think” or meditate on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and excellent. As a child I remember memorizing this list (cf. Gal. 5:22–23). It’s a nice list, but it seems kind of vague, doesn’t it? What exactly do I need to be thinking about?
A few years ago, I read Psalm 19 and it clicked. The psalmist lists descriptor words for God’s word. They were almost identical to such lists as those found in Philippians 4 and Galatians 5.
So what are we to think about? God’s Word! Psalm 19:14 says, “Let the words of my heart and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Meditation is truly the key to transformation. Not just any meditation, but that which is focused on God’s Word. The old hymn written by Joachim Neander, called “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” has a line in it that says, “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do.” Ponder the things of God through the Word of God and let’s see how God can give us perspective.
The transforming Paul talks about is done by meditating. We sometimes associate meditating with Eastern religion, but the Bible has a lot to say about meditation (see Isa. 26:3; Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2; 1 Tim. 4:13–15). Christian meditation isn’t simply folding our hands and humming. Meditation is not about an emptying but a filling. But not just any filling—a filling our minds with God’s Word.
Here are some simple ways to do that.
FIVE SIMPLE WAYS TO MEDITATE ON GOD’S WORD
Memorize it. The easiest and most popular way of meditating is through memorizing portions of Scripture. If you are like me and are extremely busy, this seems like a daunting task. But what if we memorized one or two verses a year? That’s it. What if we thought about those two verses for the entire year? The truth contained in those verses can’t help but transform our minds.
Write it down. Using our hands to write out Scripture is a great way to remember, reflect, and ponder God’s Word. Copying Scripture was one of the tools monks used in the early church history to study God’s Word. Write down the Word, and pay close attention to what you’re writing as you put pen to paper.
Pray it. Even one verse a day, prayerfully repeated to ourselves over and over again, can remind us to set our minds on heavenly things and seek Christ. Transformation can come one verse at a time.
Feast on it. Reading larger portions of God’s Word is time consuming, but it has deep benefits. It can remind us of so much truth and allow us to see the big picture. Reading the book of Ruth, for example, in one setting also can help us meditate on God’s work amidst all our circumstances.
Sing it. My children love songs. We listen to a lot of different artists who sing God’s Word. Singing Scripture is a great way to keep it in front of us. It might even help with memorizing.
STAY FOCUSED
As we move through our lives, let’s not be like Alice in Wonderland. She was what James describes as “driven and tossed by the wind” (Jas. 1:6). Alice was distracted. Alice’s thinking led her down a few paths, but it did not lead her to find satisfaction.
We know better. Not because we are real people, but because we are alive people. For Christ has made us—and our minds—alive.
Sarah Frazer is a writer and Bible study mentor at sarahefrazer.com. She is the wife of Jason and mother of five. Although she serves in her local church, holds in-home Bible studies, and is preparing to be a full-time missionary to Honduras, her passion is to encourage women to get in the Bible. Sarah is also an author of three self-published Bible studies for women. She shares tools for deep-rooted Bible study at sarahefrazer.com. Download her free prayer challenge at sarahefrazer.com/prayer.