On the Transcience of All Earthly Things

On the day of the ball, Mathilde is a sight to behold! She waltzes around gracefully, reveling in all the attention and lost in a cloud of happiness. It is only around 4 in the morning that she and her husband return to their home. While getting ready for bed, Mathilde realizes with horror that the necklace is not around her neck anymore. After making calls to every place they had been to that day and having passed a grueling week with no news, they come to the conclusion that they must replace it. Looking for another necklace just like the one they lost, they find a replacement that costs 36,000 francs. Her husband pays half the sum with the money left to him in his father’s will and borrows the rest from various people by making “ruinous promises”. Finally, Mathilde is able to replace the lost necklace and returns it to Jeanne, who suspects nothing.

For ten years after that, Mathilde and her husband work tirelessly, day and night, and finally, pay off their debts. By this time, Mathilde has long forgotten the fanciful dreams of her youth. They live in crippling poverty and are both tired and irrevocably damaged from years of hardship. 

Shortly after that, while taking a walk, Mathilde runs into her rich friend in the park. Startled by the stark difference in her friend’s appearance, Jeanne almost doesn’t recognize her. Overcome with emotion, Mathilde confesses her misfortune of losing the necklace, replacing it, and working tirelessly for ten years to pay off the debt accumulated for the replacement. Shocked to hear the story, Jeanne replies that the original necklace did not contain actual diamonds but rather fake ones, thereby costing no more than 500 francs.

Although that’s how the story ends, I can never help but picture the scenario that would have unfolded after Jeanne utters those words to Mathilde. How horrified she must have been to realize that her persistent toil was all for naught. Had she known that the necklace she borrowed was only worth a couple of hundred francs, she could have easily put the loss behind her. She would have saved her money and invested it in something far more valuable. 

As this story keeps playing over and over in my mind, it challenges me to answer one very important question – What do I choose to spend my energy, time, talent, and resources on? Do I spend my days in pursuit of fleeting things – such as ways in which I can advance my worldly status? Or have I set my sights on the things above that have eternal value knowing that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6:6)

If we choose to spend our lives working for only things that have earthly value, our plight would be even worse than the one that Mathilde had to endure. I certainly don’t want to go to heaven and find out that everything I chose to chase after on Earth has no value in eternity. Quite frankly, I am constantly fighting a battle with my flesh that wants to follow the “broad way” and chase after the things that it deems more important. I tend to focus easily on what is seen and struggle with living for what is unseen. I often find the need to ask myself – Is my satisfaction found in my relentless accumulation of material possessions or do I find it more gratifying when I reach out to someone, meet their need, and thereby manifest the love of God?

What we find joy in largely depends on what we set our hearts upon. The Bible says in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also“. Indeed, we often tend to lose our focus on eternity because of what we choose to feed our hearts and minds with time and time again. In the days past, the common man only had his neighbor to compare his life to. Today, every gadget you own, every social media account you log into, and every advertisement you are subjected to subtly sends you constant messages that trigger you to compare your life to someone who seems to be better off than you.

Consequently, when we look at all the things that the world has to offer to “improve” the quality of our life, we assume that if we just had that one last thing, we would truly be fulfilled. The devil knows how powerful that desire is – that was one of the things he chose to tempt Jesus with. He knows that if he can just get us to turn our focus away from Jesus, the battle is half-won. Unsurprisingly, the Bible takes a different approach. Ecclesiastes 4:4 says “Then I observed that most people are motivated to succeed because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless – like chasing the wind“. “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:7-8).