To better understand Jesus' declaration, allow me to re-state it in different language. Don't allow yourself to be deceived by greed that causes you to accumulate money and things solely for yourself and your own comfort. It is a radical challenge to the conventional wisdom about wealth. Just about everyone of us believes that we would be happier people IF we had more money, more resources. The comedian, Sinbad, jokes about the power of a Porsche.
Money is the obsession of our time.
We are mad about money. I am deeply skeptical of the claim of any American Christian who claims no struggle with materialism. You may think that as long you only want a little more, you are not a materialist. It is specifically to the materialist that Jesus addressed the story I shared in a few moments ago. Materialism isn't determined by the size of your savings account or the amount of Adjusted Gross Income on your IRS 1040 form.