Paul saw that staying alive was better for his friends and was therefore convinced that it was not his time to go . His only concern was that Yeshua would be glorified in His body , whether by life or by death .
As I have pondered this in my heart , I have concluded that the Apostle Paul was obsessed with bearing fruit for God . After all , this was God ’ s agenda in creating us to begin with . John 15:16 states , “ You did not choose me , but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will last .” In the beginning , God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply . Romans 7:4 gives the reason why Yeshua died , and why it is necessary to reckon ourselves dead to the law . “ So , my brothers , you also died to the law through the body of the Messiah that you might belong to another , to him who was raised from the dead , in order that we might bear fruit to God .” In the dialogue that Paul has with himself about whether he prefers dying and going home to be with Yeshua or remaining on earth , he concludes that to go on living in the body would mean fruitful labor for the Lord .
It seems then that fruit is important to God and that most of His actions can be examined in terms of increasing future fruit bearing ( see the whole of John 15 ). We are even commanded to rejoice in our suffering because of the fruit that will be borne in our lives as a result of perseverance ( Romans 5:1-5 ; James 1:2-4 ). Think of the suffering Joseph underwent and look at the answer he gave his remorseful brothers . He told them that it was not they who sent him to Egypt , but it was God so that many lives may be spared ( fruit ). The Apostle Paul looked at his imprisonment as a means for the Gospel to spread and for boldness being inspired in the saints to be inspired in boldness when they hear of his courage in the face of suffering ( Phil . 1:12-14 ). I think if one were to carefully ponder over the events in his or her own life , they would find that God is working toward more and more fruitfulness . Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it remains alone .
Fruitfulness is given to Moses as a blessing of the covenant but , as we will find , fruitfulness comes with some conditions .
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