L’ENCHANTÉ

Meditations for the Season of Christmas 

December 25, 2024

Merry Christmas

L’ENCHANTÉ

To whom can you compare God?

    What image can you find to resemble him?

Isaiah 40:18

Every Christmas Season I love sharing the story of L’Enchanté. This beautiful story comes from the forest of Provence in southern France.  It’s about the four shepherds who came to Bethlehem to see the Christ child.  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 arranged it, and 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.”

I’ve written often about God’s call on my life to respond to His grace with my reverence and awe. (See Hebrews 12:28) My reverence and awe find their fulfillment in my active participation in worship. My spirit is not content just listening to others speaking, praying and singing. I need to speak words of adoration, I need to pray, I need to sing. To this end, let’s find time during this Christmas Season to light a solitary candle. In quietness, we can gaze upon the simple candle and allow our heart to become enchanted with “Jesu, Jesu, Jesu – Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”

(The story of L’ENCHANTÉ is from, Brennan Manning, The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Revell, 2004)

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(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 © 2025 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.