[url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2015:11-32&version=NASB/]Luke 15:11-32 (NASB) [/url] I heard a preaching on the famous parable of the Prodigal Son this past Sunday. One point that stood out to me was that the father did not go to the pigpen and pull his wayward son out of it. "Don't jump in the pigpen" was how the priest put it. :) A person who has rebelled against God, who has "gone to a distant country" and squandered all he had, must "come to his senses" and repent. It is not our job to reach down into the pigpen and pull them out. But I thought we were supposed to help each other? What's the balance between letting a person come to the realization that they sinned and helping up one who has fallen? As a new father, I'm sure this will be a really hard lesson to learn. When my child gets into trouble, through her own bad choices, I will want to rescue her from them. I will want to pull her out of the muck and mire and set her on her feet again. I know that this will not help her learn the lessons required but how hard it will be to let my child suffer. What's the tipping point? When is it ok to help her up? Do I wait for her to ask? Even if she asks, do I say, "you got yourself into this mess, you get yourself out?" Of course I will be waiting and willing to take her back just as the father saw his son from a long way off and ran to him and embraced him and kissed him and restored his son as before with the robe and sandals and ring and prepared a great feast. It's just.... how do we know where the tipping point is?