Everyone who has ever more than heard about C knows the only go-to source of all knowledge for it is the book “The C Programming Language”, known to C programmers as “K&R”. The R of K&R is Dennis M. Ritchie often known by his username dmr. Dennis Ritchie is also the creator of the C language.

Now, C had been around for years, but it had just taken a foothold in the computing world and was coming on like gangbusters. That’s when I got in on this wonder. C was created to help implement the Unix operating system and since it was so widely portable it is one of the reasons Unix exploded onto the scene as well.

You say you’re not familiar with Unix? Ever hear of Linux? Companies like Google and Amazon depend on it. Ever hear of Apple Mac computers? The entire line of Apple computers runs on an operating system that is based on a derivation of Unix. Unix and it’s descendants are so powerful, portable and compact that they are used in a lot of communications devices. You can bet that there is a form of Unix at many places along the Internet link you are using to read this! You never know, your home entertainment system may have a remote that runs a flavor of Unix!

Oh, did I mention that Mr. Ritchie also helped create Unix? He was one of a handful of techs from AT&T Bell Labs that built one of the best, most portable, and most secure operating systems ever, in my opinion and in that of many others.

All of this – the man, single handedly and otherwise, changed the computing world as we know it – and yet I heard from a friend that he had recently passed. Not even a mention on the news I encountered that week. Unfortunately the world lost another great visionary, Mr. Steve Jobs, that same week. I think this overshadowed Mr. Ritchie’s death as far as the news media was concerned. Taking nothing from Mr. Jobs – I love his product and am eternally grateful to him as well – but it was sad to see Mr. Ritchie’s passing go so quietly and unreported. I think it was a disservice to the memory and accomplishments of this major game changer in the computing world.

My heartfelt thanks to Msrs. Ritchie and Jobs. As a professional programmer I owe a lot of who I am and what I do to each of these great men who will be missed and remembered fondly by millions. Peace to you both.

If we are asked to do something, especially something important and doubly so if it’s important for others and not just ourselves, we have 4 answers we can give: I will, I can’t, I won’t, or i don’t. Notice every one of them except the first ends in “n’t” or “not”? Yeah, it’s a pattern.

So, what is the difference between them?

The first is obviously set apart from the others since it is a positive, moving-forward answer. ‘Nuff said.

The next is I can’t.  This literally means “it is not possible for me to do this,” and yet the Word says I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.  Of course, this is anything He will empower us to do.  For me to fly would serve no purpose and is a temptation of God which is unwise and painful or even fatal.  As my Pastor says, “Most can’ts are really won’ts.”

I won’t is the next on the list.  This is probably the most common true answer to why we disqualify ourselves from things we have been given to do.  It is a flat-out refusal; whether disguised as “I can’t” or excused away because of time, money, family, job, etc.  How many of these excuses we give will God accept?  That’s the ones we should allow ourselves to use if they are true.

I don’t is perhaps the most deadly one of all, especially in our Christian life.  This is the response we give, verbally or not, when we think it is not important enough to do.  If *we* don’t see value in the task then we procrastinate, delay, excuse, and find ways to not do it until either someone else does or the ‘problem’ goes away.  This may work with a select few things but usually leaving a problem only gives it opportunity to grow out of control. The other part of this is that it is not just a simple “oops, I didn’t get to it” but it is a refusal that you can make yourself think is not.  Justified rebellion is not justified nor acceptable in our lives if we want to excel.

So, the next time you are asked to do something, whether it is a situation that demands response, a request from a friend, or a command from God, what will our answer be?  An excuse… A refusal…  A rebellious inactivity… or a “Yes, I will!”