(Note: This is the first of a three-part series. You’ll receive one part every Monday…)
There’s a curious Bible passage where God says that He’ll give us earthly rewards too. Yes, they may not be our most important rewards, but they must be important too for Him to mention them.
Jesus said, Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields–along with persecutions–and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)
No doubt about it. Jesus said that “in this present age”, you’ll receive a HUNDRED TIMES whatever you’ve given up for God.
Wow. A hundred times!
This is “Law of the Farm”. Which is the Miracle of Multiplication. If you give your life to God and it returns to me pressed down, shaken together, and running over.
This will blow your mind: One mango seed planted in good soil will grow into a tree that can produce, in its entire lifetime, 50,000 mango fruits. And if you re-plant the 50,000 seeds inside the 50,000 fruits, in the second generation alone, you’ll produce 2.5 Billion mangoes!
Jesus talked about this. He said unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24).
When you give your life to God, you’re planting your seed on the best possible soil–the very Heart of God. And in that soil, you will bear fruit abundantly…
Delay Gratification
Have you heard of the marshmallow test? It was a study on delayed gratification. In 1972, in Stanford University, they got 600 kindergarten kids–ages 4 to 6 years old–and led each child inside a room, devoid of all distractions, except for a table, and a marshmallow on a little saucer. The researchers told each child, “If you don’t eat this marshmallow for 15 minutes, we’ll come in and give you another marshmallow.”
There were some kids who, the moment the researchers left the room, grabbed the marshmallow and popped it in their mouth. But there were other kids who waited long enough to get that second marshmallow. They did all sorts of amusing things to distract themselves (I watched the video); they closed their eyes, they ran around, they jumped up and down…
Here’s what’s fascinating with this study: They tracked down these kids 20 years later. And what did they discover? The kids who had the ability to delay their gratification long enough to get the second marshmallow were more successful, intelligent, and well-adjusted adults.
Again, this is the Law of the Farm: Delaying gratification is planting before you harvest…
Two Audiences–Two Messages
I want to speak to two audiences. Today, I’ll talk to my first audience–the person who needs to be reminded to plant before he harvests. (Next week, I’ll talk to my second audience–the person who doesn’t know how to harvest!)
Many people are one-day millionaires, spending what they earn. It’s never too late to change. You can learn to delay gratification so that you can invest for your future.
To this person, I ask this question…
“Are You Planting?”
If you lack Earthly Rewards, perhaps you’re not planting.
I know of people who envy the rich.
But they only envy the rich person’s harvest. They don’t envy rich person’s many years of planting. When I look at my very successful business mentors, I’m amazed at their massive wealth, but I’m more amazed by the massive work. They work very hard. They’re passion for their business is intense. For DECADES, they planted in their field like a lunatic. And now, their harvest is insane too.
Don’t Just Imitate My Harvest…
Here’s the recipe of a disaster: When you imitate the rich person’s harvest without imitating the rich person’s planting.
For example, one friend saw how I brought my wife out for our weekly romantic dates in fancy restaurants, sometimes in 5-star hotels. He loved the idea. Wanting to follow my example, he brought his wife to fancy restaurants too. When I found out about it, I knew it was a catastrophe. Because I knew his income couldn’t afford it yet.
He didn’t know that I didn’t start our romantic dates in fancy restaurants. For years, when I was still starting my businesses, my weekly dates with my wife took place outside our front door, in the porch, munching on a brown bag of peanuts. Because that was all I could afford.
If you want to harvest the way I harvest, you have to plant the way I plant.
Secret To Success: Don’t Stop Planting
People ask me, “Bo, how can you be so successful in business?”
Here’s one favorite answer: I don’t stop planting. All people see is that I’m successful in 12 businesses. They don’t see my 12 failed businesses. I should have had 24 businesses!
People only see my successes, they don’t see my sorrows.
It’s the same with the Feast. People only see the reaping, not the sowing.
They just see the fact that it’s growing. They don’t see the intense work that goes into it. They only see the harvest, not the planting. They don’t see the 900 volunteers who serve every Sunday. They don’t see that every week, the Feast Builders brainstorm for each talk. They don’t see that before every talk, I’m on my desk for 2 whole days, praying and wrestling with my message.
For example, I’m now preparing for our next series. To do that,I’m reading 9 books on the subject…
Successful People Plant A Lot
Two months ago, my business mentors and I just gave a 4-day Superconference for TrulyRichClub Members. People from all over the world came–from the US, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi…
One of our attendees was a young woman from America named Nicole. She was only 20 years old. Here’s what was shocking to me: She didn’t ask money from her parents; She paid with her own money. To raise the money for her plane fare and conference fee, she worked hard. She worked as a photographer, sold food to her friends, did secretarial work in a parish church… When she told me that, I realized that even before she stepped into our conference, she was already learning something priceless. I told Nicole, “I know you’ll be a great success in life.”
Why? Because she knows how to plant.
If you want to harvest, you’ve got to plant.
There are people I know who always want things for free. Sometimes, a person comes up to me and ask, “Brother Bo, can you give me a free ticket to your seminar?” My heart breaks for these people, because I know they will never succeed in life. Because they don’t know that if the ticket isn’t for me, it’s for them. By giving value to their own education, they open themselves for incredible growth.
I also receive a few emails from people why we charged for the KerygmaConference last month. They want it free. Oh, I pity these people. Because it will be difficult for them to succeed in life. Aside from the fact that we’ll be spending P14 Million to hold such a gigantic conference, I believe it’s important that people invest in their own personal growth. In Tagalog, there’s a popular saying that goes, Kailangan may pusta… Hindi ka mananalo kung wala kang taya. (You don’t win if you don’t bet.) We should stop thinking that just because it’s a religious event, it should be free. This is immature thinking.
Some people think they can have a great family life by just getting married. That’s absurd. If you want a rich harvest in your family life, you need to faithfully “plant” lots of time, energy, and emotions into your relationships.
Some people think they can have great health by just existing in this world. That’s nuts. If you want a rich harvest in your health, you need to faithfully “plant” the right food, rest, and exercise into your body.
And some people think they can have great finances by having a job. That’s garbage. If you want a rich harvest in your finances, you need to faithfully “plant” a lot of financial education and financial discipline into your money life.
Next week, I’ll talk to my second audience–the person who doesn’t know how to harvest. (Yes, there are such people like that. I was one of them…)
May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez
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