But you have to remember that in 2 Corinthians 8 Paul reckons our regular job to the gathering of manna. You know the story of the gathering of manna. Some greedy ones gathered more, but afterward the measurement was the same. Many of us like to gather more, but eventually it comes out the same. Those who receive more or gather more have no excess. And those who gather less have no lack. It comes out the same. Even though you gather so much with all your energy and endeavor, eventually what you get is the same.
We who are the meeting people do live on manna. Don’t live on your job. Go to do a job, but don’t live on your job. Live on manna. Even your job is manna. God can take away all the manna. God can use just His little finger to touch the American economy and the jobs are gone. When the jobs are gone, there is no manna. You think this is your job, but this is manna sent by God to you.
The Lord’s word is trustworthy. He says not to worry about tomorrow. He says not to have any anxiety about tomorrow. Tomorrow is not in your hands. Don’t live a life of tomorrow. Live a life of today. Seek first His kingdom. Then what you need for clothing, for drinking, for eating your Father will add to you. He will give you the kingdom that you firstly seek plus all the necessities (Matt. 6:31-34). This is the manna. To lose your job should not worry you, but to miss a meeting should bother you.
I have been serving the Lord for about fifty years. I didn’t lose my job at the beginning of the fifty years; rather I quit my job. I had a good job, but I gave it up. My! when I was about to make the decision to quit my job, that seemed bigger than the earth. But fifty years have passed now, and the fact is that the Lord’s word is trustworthy. We surely don’t need to worry about our living. We don’t need to have any anxiety about our necessities as long as we seek after Him.
You have to realize that the practical kingdom life is the meeting. If we seek after His kingdom, yet we don’t meet, what kind of kingdom is this? The practical kingdom is the meeting life. To meet is to seek the kingdom first. To attend the meeting is to seek the kingdom first.
Now we come back to the matter of doing the will of God. We live on this earth, and our goal, our purpose, is to do the will of our Father. How could we know His will? There is no other way except by attending the meetings. I can assure you that without coming to the meeting it would be more than hard for you to know God’s will. The way to know God’s will is to come to the meeting. When you begin to miss the meeting, you begin to miss God’s will. Then you would begin to go back to that miserable life under Satan’s tyranny from which you have been delivered already.
So we must do whatever we can not to miss any meetings. If this would jeopardize our job, let it jeopardize it. Coming to the meeting must be first. I have never seen one saint who eventually really suffered because of coming to the meeting. I have never seen one. Rather I can testify I have seen thousands in the past who kept coming to the meetings and who were much blessed by the Lord, not only spiritually but even physically. The Lord is faithful, and His promise is trustworthy.
Saints, be encouraged and be assured. This is not only the right way, this is also the unique way. We have no choice. To be a human being, you have to be a Christian. To be a Christian, you have to come to the meeting. There is no choice. This is our destiny. To come to the meeting is not only our destination, it is our destiny. Our Father predestined us this way. To come together is our destiny. If we go along with God’s predestination, surely we will be under His blessing. If not, we are kicking against the pricks, and we will suffer.
Some might consider that they sacrifice too much time to come to the meetings. They might consider that if they used all their time to do business they would make more money. Let them try four or five years and they will see the suffering. I have seen too many cases like this. This thought is quite deceiving and quite misleading. We have to stand on the trustworthy word in God’s Holy Scripture. We have to trust in His promise, and we have to obey His commandment to come to the meeting. If you come to the meeting you are keeping His predestination, and the destiny of blessing will come to you. It will come not only to you, one generation, but perhaps even to the third generation, or generation after generation. Both you and your children will be under God’s blessing.
This is our destiny, dear saints. To meet together is not a small thing. It is our destiny. We cannot have any other choice. Here we know the will of God and here we do the will of God and eventually we fulfill His purpose.