Carried Up the Mountain

In The Return of the King, the final film of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, there is a moment that has moved audiences to tears since 2003. Frodo Baggins has collapsed on the slopes of Mount Doom. The Ring has grown so heavy, so consuming, that he cannot take another step. He is finished. The mission to destroy evil seems impossible.

And then Samwise Gamgee kneels beside him and says the words that echo through every weary soul: "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you." Sam hoists Frodo onto his back and begins climbing — one agonizing step at a time — up the ashen mountainside toward the fire.

Sam could not remove the burden. He could not take the Ring. But he could put his friend on his shoulders and keep walking.

This is what perseverance looks like in the body of Christ. We are not called to carry one another's burdens alone — the Almighty never asked that of us. But we are called to carry one another. Galatians 6:2 says, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Sometimes perseverance is not about your own two legs. Sometimes it is about the brother or sister who refuses to let you quit.

If you are exhausted today, look around. God has placed a Sam in your life. And if you still have strength, look around again — someone near you needs to be carried.