L’ENCHANTÉ

Meditations for the Season of Christmas

December 26, 2022

L’ENCHANTÉ

To whom can you compare God?

    What image can you find to resemble him?

Isaiah 40:18

One of my favorite devotions from Brennan Manning is a beautiful story that is recounted every Christmas in the forest of Provence in southern France. I know I have shared this in years past, but to me it is so simple and yet profound, I want to share it again this year.  It’s about the four shepherds who came to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus.  One brought eggs, another brought bread and cheese, the third brought wine.  And the fourth brought nothing at all. People called him L’Enchanté. 

The first three shepherds chatted with Mary and Joseph, commenting on how well Mary looked, how cozy was the cave and how handsomely Joseph had appointed it, what a beautiful starlit night it was!  They congratulated the proud parents, presented them with their gifts and assured them that if they needed anything else, they only had to ask.

Finally, someone asked, “Where is L’Enchanté?”  They searched high and low, up, and down, inside, and out.  Finally, someone peeked through the blanket hung against the draft, into the crèche. There, kneeling at the crib, was L’Enchanté. – the Enchanted one. Like a flag or a flame taking the direction of the wind, he had taken the direction of love. Through the entire night, he stayed in adoration, whispering, “Jesu, Jesu, Jesu – Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” (Brennan Manning, The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Revell, 2004)

My Takeaway: Let’s make time on this first day after Christmas to find a quiet place. Then in the quietness, we can allow our heart to become enchanted with “Jesu, Jesu, Jesu – Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.