John...
I am a bit confused with your post. You stated that Jesus was talking about a mans spirit and not his earthly wealth/ or lack of, and upon reading that portion from the Bible again, I do see where Jesus is talking about a man spiritual ability to pass through the gates of heaven (if you will)... but I feel... a couple of verse later, He is speaking about a person having great wealth or variations of wealth here on earth. Because, the more wealth and individual has, the tendency, at least, is for that person to spend his wealth and become greatly involved in the investing of it, or, the joy of all that it can bring him, and forgetting God, how He may use whatever degree of wealth he has to help those that are not as wealthy, or that are in need, than, thanking and giving God the glory for allowing him to have the wealth in the first place. Some other examples are found in Mark 9:41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward... and.... Luke 10:30-36 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
If I understand correctly, these are dealing with an individuals wealth and use of it all the way from the use of a cup of cold water, to finances and time that were used to pay for the care of and helping someone who was hurting. As Largeli said, a great percentage of us in the U.S. are very wealthy from a world wide viewpoint and need to be very cautious, in my opinion, of how, or what we spend our wealth on.
One last quote from the scriptures would be: Matthew 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
One last comment, it is so easy to take any excess money, beyond our basic needs and spend on "toys", such as boats, campers, snowmobiles, etc. etc, etc... and forget the blessings in giving, because we have been told in the Scriptures, we cannot serve two gods at the same time.
Dennis & Connie