2. Now suppose the believer is in a calling in which he can abide with God, the next point to be settled is, "_Why do I carry on this business, or why am I engaged in this trade or profession?_" In most instances, so far as my experience goes, which I have gathered in my service among the saints during the last fifteen years and a half [_i. e._ in 1845], I believe the answer would be, "I am engaged in my earthly calling that I may earn the means of obtaining the necessaries of life for myself and family." Here is the chief error from which almost all the rest of the errors which are entertained by the children of God, relative to their calling, spring. It is no right and scriptural motive to be engaged in a trade or business or profession _merely_ in order to earn the means for the obtaining of the necessaries of life for ourselves and family, _but we should work because it is the Lord's will concerning us_. This is plain from the following passages: 1 Thess. iv. 11, 12; 2 Thess. iii. 10-12; Eph. iv. 28. It is quite true that, in general, the Lord provides the necessaries of life by means of our ordinary calling: but that that is not THE REASON why we should work, is plain enough from the consideration that if our possessing the necessaries of life depended upon our ability of working, we could never have _freedom from anxiety_, for we should always have to say to ourselves, And what shall I do when I am too old to work, or when by reason of sickness I am unable to earn my bread? But if, on the other hand, we are engaged in our earthly calling because _it is the will of the Lord concerning us that we should work_, and that thus laboring we may provide for our families, and also be able to support the weak, the sick, the aged, and the needy, then we have good and scriptural reason to say to ourselves, Should it please the Lord to lay me on a bed of sickness, or keep me otherwise by reason of infirmity, or old age, or want of employment, from earning my bread by means of the labor of my hands, or my business, or my profession, he will yet provide for me. Because we who believe are servants of Jesus Christ, who has bought us with his own precious blood, and are not our own, and because this our precious Lord and Master has commanded us to work, therefore we work: and _in doing so_ our Lord will provide for us, but whether in this way or any other way he is sure to provide for us, for we labor in obedience to him; and if even a just earthly master give wages to his servants, the Lord will surely see to it that we have our wages, if, in obedience to him, we are engaged in our calling, and not for our own sake.