That’s how Jesus put it in his story. Suddenly, the happy and confident young man who had it all had nothing. No money. No friends. No food.

He has an epiphany—a moment of sudden revelation and insight.

This is a different young man. A young man emersed, not in “worldly sorrow”, but in “godly sorrow.” (II Corinthians 7: 10-11) He has recited to himself the simple but profound facts of his life as he knows them to be. He knows what he’ll tell his father...