WE AIN'T GONNA DO IT

  

    Some of you who read this will know the man who told the following story. As the story goes, when this dear brother, who is quite advanced in years now, was a boy his father had given him, along with his older brother the following instructions. Dad told the two boys to take one of the cows down to a place where there was a ditch and tie her up down there so she would eat the grass in the ditch. The area needed to be cleaned out and dad knew the cow would do it. He said, leave her down there for a couple of hours, then go get her and bring her back up to the barn and let her drink some water, but don’t let her drink too much, because it will make her sick.  When dad got back he noticed that the ditch hadn’t been touched. He found the boys and said, "you boys didn't do what I told you to do did you?"  The older brother said, “no, and we ain’t gonna it!”  You can only imagine how well that went over with a father in the 1930's! Our friend said it was about two weeks until they were able to wear pants comfortably and sit comfortably again!  

A few of us who have heard the story have taken it upon ourselves to allow this phrase to live in perpetuity, and a long time as well When there is something we don’t like or we are reticent about, we just capture and repeat, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  

I’ve thought a lot about how that statement taken to an extreme represents selfishness in somebody’s heart.  It says I am to good, or I just don’t like what you’ve told me to do.  It is a stubborn rebelliousness that defies authority.  Most parents would not allow their children to get away with saying it, but is it possible that we often display the attitude that is revealed in the statement?  God says, love your neighbor as yourself, and we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  He says that we must be baptized in order to be saved, and we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  He says, “take up your cross, daily,” and we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.” He says that we should forgive one another and we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.” He says  bear one another’s burdens and we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  He says, be kind to one another, and we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  He says, “visit the fatherless and widows,” but we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  He says, pray for our leaders, but we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  He says, “love the brotherhood,” but we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  He says, pray for one another, but we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  He says, encourage one another by worshipping regularly together, but we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  He says, speak words that edify and build up, we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  He says, “obey those that have the rule over you,” but we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.”  He says, “if you love me, keep my commandments,” but we say, “We ain’t gonna do it.” He says, "go into all the world and preach the gospel," but we say, "We ain't gonna do it."

One day we are going to stand before the judgement seat of God and expect Him to let us into His Heaven. For all of those who have spent their lives saying, “We ain’t gonna do it,” yet demand Heaven, I wonder what He will say???