TRANSFORMED VERSUS CONFORMED -- THE CASE OF THE JAPANESE WATERMELON
Farmers in Zentsuji, Japan, are preparing full-grown watermelons for shipment -- only these are no ordinary melons: they're square! They were placed in tempered-glass cubes while they were still growing. Why would anyone want a square watermelon? They’re much easier to store in a refrigerator! It’s amusing to think of how a naturally round watermelon can become square because of the shape of the container in which it’s grown.
This reminds me of the forces in the world that exert their influence on us and attempt to shape us. That’s why in Romans 12: 2 we are told not to be "conformed to this world," but to be "transformed by the renewing of [our] mind." The idea is rather simple: We are to allow the transforming Word of God to work within us and produce outward results, instead of permitting external pressures to shape us.
(From a sermon by Ajai Prakash, Recall Notice, 8/14/2012)