A Penny or 3 Million Bucks? | Wednesday – Week 6
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Take a Moment
Ask God what He wants to show you before reading today
Read The Daily
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
Darren Hardy starts the book “Compound Effect” with a story about a magic penny. If you were given a choice between getting $3 million in cash today or a single penny that doubles in value every day for 31 days, which one would you choose? Darren points out that the majority of people would take the $3 million today because it not only looks like the better deal, but it also takes a lot longer to see the payoff for the magic penny. In fact, the Compound Effect of the magic penny is invisible for much of the time.
For instance, if you picked the magic penny and your friend took the other option, on day 10 your friend would have $3 million in cold, hard cash, while you would have only $5.12. On day 20, you would have $5,243, which is a lot better than $5 but still nowhere near the $3 million dollar mark. By day 29, you’ll have $2.7 million, almost as much as your friend’s $3 million. However, it isn’t until day 30, that your magic penny bet pays off and is now worth $5.3 million. On day 31, the very last day, your penny doubles again and is now worth a total of $10,737,418.24. About three times more than your friend’s, now tiny, $3 million prize. I know for all of you non-math people, this is the worst devotion you’ve ever read lol.
I love that illustration because I think it’s a picture of the Epic Life. A ton of daily consistent (and even tiny) moments may not seem like much at the moment. Taking time to build into others, sharing meals, seeing potential in someone who doesn’t even see it in themselves. All of these BLESS moments actually compound. The best part is when others join in and it actually becomes exponential.
The seed that produced an abundant crop was planted in good soil – a heart ready to receive God’s truth. The condition of our heart affects our capacity to hear from God and bless others. As we tend the soil of our hearts by thinking of how we can multiply our lives with others, God will multiply our simple acts of service.
Prayer for the Day
God what are you showing me? What am I going to do about it?
God help me to see one person that I can serve through a kind word, random act of kindness, or simple gift today?
Make sure you complete the reading or comment today.
Read The New Testament In A Year
4 x 6 Plan | Read: Acts 4:1-12 & 2 Peter 3:8-13