Moths, Rust, and Thieves

“The righteous man plows furrows of earth and sows and has a harvest here which shall never be fully reaped until he enters the enjoyments of eternity.” – C.H. Spurgeon

Rarely in life do you get the opportunity to plow, plant, and fully harvest unless, of course, you are a farmer. For the rest of us, our lot in life may be to plow so someone else can plant or to plant so someone else can harvest.

Let me give you an example (or two) from personal experience…

In 1987, God led me to combine my love for Him and my love for sports by starting America’s first-ever athletic prison ministry. It seemed like an odd fit at the time because I wasn’t a star athlete, nor did I have a criminal record. However, I am convinced to this day that God chose me to found The South Jersey Saints (now The Saints Prison Ministry) because – since I was relatively unqualified for the job – He would get all the glory.

I was privileged to lead that fledging ministry for 24 years, seeing it grow from a single softball team in the Philly suburbs to an international organization with four branch offices across the country and multiple teams in multiple sports. By the time I left to launch Risk Takers for Christ in 2011, we had shared the gospel with hundreds of thousands of inmates in more than 350 different correctional institutions throughout North America... and incredibly, over 23,000 of them had placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

The last time I checked, SPM has now ministered to 425,000 inmates in 475 different prisons with 36,000 of them making decisions for Christ. Along with many others, I plowed and planted… and now a bountiful spiritual crop is being harvested more than a decade later.

The same goes for my nascent political career. When I discovered that the liberal Democrat in my congressional district had run unopposed in two of the previous three election cycles, I decided to jump into the fray. By knocking on 10,000 doors in both 2008 and 2010, I was able to earn more votes (and a higher percentage of votes) than any Republican challenger in the past 35 years. My prayer is that God will raise up someone else to build on that foundation and finally send the Progressives packing.

My friend, don’t be discouraged if you don’t get to experience the “final fruits” of your labor here on earth, because your true harvest will be revealed in Glory… where moths won’t eat it, rust won’t tarnish it, and thieves can’t steal it (see Matthew 6:19-21).

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” I Corinthians 3:6 (NKJV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President