Did Sai Baba instruct Balasaheb Deo to quit his job in order to focus on his spiritual reading?

No, the provided text from Chapter 41 does not indicate that Sai Baba instructed Balasaheb Deo to quit his job. On the contrary, the passage acknowledges the necessity of his work by stating, "Without doing a job during the day, there was no way for livelihood." The narrative then frames the spiritual challenge in the context of his daily life, asking, "But why should an obstacle come to spiritual practice at night?" This implies that Deo was a working individual trying to integrate spiritual practice into his life, not someone told to abandon his worldly duties. His struggle was with performing his spiritual reading despite internal obstacles, not a conflict between his job and a command from Sai.