Is it righteous to seek after worldly wealth?

Is it righteous to seek after worldly wealth? This a question any God fearing man or women may ask themselves at one point in time or another. After all, money is the root of all evil, and if money is the root of all evil, then how could it be a righteous desire? The Richest Man in Zion answers this question and other financial questions for the everyday Christian.

In the tenth chapter of Mark, verses 17-22, a man came to Christ and asked Him what he needed to do in order to inherit eternal life. Christ responded by telling him various commandments from the commonly known "Ten Commandments." The man replied by saying that he had obeyed all of the commandments from his youth. Then Jesus told him that he only lacked one thing. Christ told him to go and sell all that he had and give it to the poor, and then to "take up the cross," and follow Him. The man went away grieving because he was a very rich person and had great possessions.

Christ then goes on to tell the disciples that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." In the time when this was said, the citys were often surrounded by great walls to protect its inhabitants from enemies. During the day large gates were opened so that great amounts of traffic could come and go freely. At night these gates were shut, and if someone wanted to enter the city they would have to do so through an entrance commonly referred to as the "eye of the needle." The "eye of the needle" was a small door in the wall. It was fairly simple for a single person to go through this entrance, but it is said that a loaded camel would practically have to get on its knees in order to get through the door. As you can imagine camels don't walk on their knees very easily. This section of Mark makes it seem like if you are rich, and you want to enter into the kingdom of God, it might be easier for you to just give your money away than attempt to live a righteous and worthily life.

Is this so? Should believers just give all their extra money to charity? This would definitely be a noble cause, but would it be responsible? How do we define excess? What happens if we give away our "excess" and then we are not prepared for unexpected expenses or unforeseen events? What about our responsibility to provide for our family or our children? These are some very difficult questions that should not be taken lightly. Each individual has the right to consider and decide their answers for themselves. Over the coarse of the next couple of weeks I will attempt to offer helpful advice for those who ponder this query.