Antique or Classic

(Ruth 1:16-17 KJV) And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

Using old cars may be a strange way of bringing application to our text but I want to take that liberty.

I suppose if I had a second profession it would probably be that of restoring old cars. Very old cars normally fall into the two categories of antique and classic. All of those classic cars are considered to be antique, but not all the antique cars are considered to be classic.

It may seem a little crude to put people into the antique and classic categories as I am about to do, however, since I am a senior myself, and would probably be classified as an antique rather than a classic...that should give me room to take some liberty.

While some folks appear to lose their value as they grow older…other folks seem to increase in value and become more precious, like a classic. This analogy may be an over simplification of the way things really are, but it is certainly a way that this country boy can understand.

Ruth was young and beautiful when she made (what seemed to be at the time), a rash commitment. You would certainly think for one to make a 'commitment unto death' statement it would no doubt be as a result of emotional instability, however, that was not the case with Ruth. History proves that she was not only a stable woman of honor, but also a 'classic' in the making.

I believe this story was more about her 'unto death commitment, than it was about the blessings she was to receive as a result of her commitment. Ruth eventually grew old and died, but even today (thousands of years later); she is still known as a 'classic' woman.

Over the years I have tried to learn how to better distinguish between things which are antique and things that would be considered classic. I have also spent a lifetime studying people-in hopes of learning why some grow old as antiques while others seem to have a classic flair.

I have known a lot of wonderful old people in my life and have learned valuable lessons from most of them. However, occasionally I have had the privilege of meeting a person who, like Ruth, seems to always stand out above the rest and therefore would certainly fall into the classic category in my book.

My mother-in-law was such a person. She was class personified in everything she did. Since people like her intrigue me…I studied her moves, the way she dressed, the way she carried herself, her interests and her reactions to things when they went wrong.

After years of studying her life I finally came to the conclusion that a classic person is born, not made by learning how to do things. Being classic has nothing to do with how much one has…it has to do with who they are at the core. In the case of my mother-in-law, she was classic at her very core.

Even though Ruth and my mother-in-law had humility, servant-hood, and preferring others over themselves in common...that alone did not make them classics. Those things can be learned…being classic is much deeper than that.

Most of us will never attain to the classic category in the eyes of man. However, all of us will attain to the classic category in the eyes of our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ.

Father,

Thank you for the wonderful examples of humility, servant-hood and preferring others over themselves that were found in Ruth and in my mother-in-law. I too want to be an example to folks who may be studying my life and reactions, as I have studied others. Lord, even though we do not know how we are seen in the eyes of others…our desire is to walk righteously and upright before You. Thank You Father that through Christ even the antiques are classics in Your eyes.

Amen