Zechariah 9:9-10 / Romans 8:9, 11-13 / Matthew 11:25-30
The future is a mysterious thing, and we are certainly quite curious about it.
Because we want to know what the future is like.
While some of us would like to know what the future is like, some people also want to know when the future will end.
So, those end-time prophecies can still get people to be curious and nervous.
Nonetheless, predictions about the future can arouse our curiosity.
We may just glance at the horoscopes for the day, just for fun, but we may end up thinking seriously about it.
There is this story of a young man who was poor and single.
He went to see a wise man for some advice to change his life.
The wise man looked carefully at him and said, "You will be poor and single until you are 40."
The young man was curious and asked, "Until 40? After that? After that?"
The wise man replied, "After that, you will get used to it."
But the curious and adventurous side in us makes us want to discover, to speculate, to imagine, and to dream about the future.
While the motives can be noble and good, the objective may only be for self-gain.
We use our intelligence and knowledge to see how we can grow our wealth and increase our possessions.
Because we think that to be wealthy would also mean that we could be happy.
Well, it cannot be denied that wealth can buy some moments of happiness.
But what we are seeking for and longing for is peace in our hearts that will bear fruits of happiness in our lives.
And Jesus wants to teach us about the mystery of life so that we can find true happiness and peace.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells us to come to Him, we who are tired out and have many burdens in life.
Maybe we overthink and try too hard to be happy, to succeed, to achieve, to accomplish, and to impress others.
But Jesus tells us to shoulder the yoke and learn from Him, by taking the long road and entering by the narrow gate.
He tells us that gentleness is strength, although the world tells us that power is might.
There is this story about a bandit who threatened to kill a wise man because the wise man was discouraging others from joining the bandit.
The bandit said, "To have a sword is to have power, power over life and death."
So, the wise man told the bandit, "Cut off that branch from the tree."
With one stroke of the sword, the branch fell to the ground.
The wise man then told the bandit, "That is impressive. Now, join the branch back to the tree."
The bandit laughed and said, "That's ridiculous."
The wise man said, "So, your sword can only cut and bring about destruction and death. True strength is to restore and bring about life."
So, it takes no effort to destroy, but it takes immense grace and gentleness to restore.
To understand humility, let us take a look at the tree.
No matter how tall or how strong the tree grows, its leaves and its fruits will still fall down to the ground and to its roots.
Similarly, no matter how successful or accomplished we become, humility reminds us of our roots and our dependence on God.
As we heed the call of Jesus to come to Him, we come before the Lord Jesus in prayer.
With a gentle and a humble heart, we will know that prayer is the greatest power that the Lord has granted to us.
With prayer, we will follow Jesus to restore and to heal.
With prayer, we will listen to Jesus and to forgive others and be reconciled with them.
With prayer, we will commend our lives into the hands of Jesus because the future is in His hands.
With prayer, we will be like little children being loved by God the Father.
That is true happiness. That is true peace.