The Art of Basking

Enjoying God's mercy, goodness, and love

Recently a dear friend texted me to inquire about one of my children who had received some bad news. As I shared an update, she reminded me of God’s compassion, His knowing of my hurting mother’s heart. Then she assured me she would be joining me in prayer for my child.

For the next few minutes I sat, looking out the window at my blooming roses, the Japanese maple swaying in the breeze, birds flitting here and there. A beautiful sun-filled day. My mind lingered on the memories of all the times, past and present, in which this faithful friend had comforted, encouraged and refreshed my soul. The word “basking” popped into my thoughts.

Ahh, yes! Checking several on-line dictionary sources I found these definitions for basking: get great pleasure from; revel in and make the most of something; take something in, or bathe in its goodness. How great is that?

I have to say that I really like basking. Life is so filled up with moments I want to make the most of. Walking and chatting with my husband (just celebrated 43 years, yay!), playing with my grandchildren, having coffee with a friend, listening to my children as they share life experiences with me, praying for folks at church, singing worship songs – I do get great pleasure from all of these!

Most of all, I love the times I can just sit and bask (bathe in the goodness of) in the presence of Jesus. Do you love to do that too? I hope so. How can we “make the most” of those times?

Bask in His Mercy

Somewhere in the archives of my mind I have file cabinets filled with all the many sins I have committed in my lifetime. There are empty cabinets awaiting those, I have no doubt, I will commit along the way. I don’t go browsing there, but I have to confess that I occasionally take a sneak peek. Which may, or may not, send me into a frenzy of guilt.

God will never forget me. He has “engraved me on the palms of His hands.” (Isaiah 49:16) But the wonderful truth is – He will not remember my sins. Once I have confessed to Him, He forgives me and puts away my sins, never to bring them before me again.

And that is Mercy! God has the capacity to punish me for every one of those transgressions. Yet, He does not do so. I do not deserve His mercy, and still, He grants it.

Indeed, outside of God’s mercy, I would not even have breath in my lungs. Psalm 119:77 says, “Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.” His unending mercy provides for us all that we need to keep living. His mercy provides food, provides strength, provides healing, provides comfort, provides protection…. You get the picture. Because of His great love and compassion, His mercy toward us is never used up. His mercy renews every morning.

Now, that is something to bask in!

Bask in His Goodness

“It’s all good.” A common phrase which essentially means everything is ok, in spite of the fact that everything may not actually be ok. For instance, “Hey, I bought you a latte but I dropped it on the way in.”

“Yeah, it’s all good.”

The reality is that the only thing that is all good is – God. God is good, always, at all times, no matter what is going on. In fact, God can only be good. He cannot even do anything bad. There is no evil in Him. Goodness is His nature. His purposes are always good, righteous and holy. God is the standard for anything good.

So that also means that everything we receive from God is always for our good. Psalms tells us God “deals bountifully with us.” He desires to give to us, abundantly, goodness we can’t even imagine. Yes, we do encounter trials, afflictions, ups and downs in life. But God’s goodness accompanies us through it all. I really like this verse from Nahum 1:7. “The Lord is good. He is a safe place to go to in times of trouble. He takes care of those who trust him.”

What a wonderful idea to spend time just basking in His goodness!

Bask in His Love

Oh, how He loves you! He loves everything about you. He loves the way your hair curls on your forehead. He loves your perfect body, even the things you don’t love about it. He loves your giggles and laughter. He loves the way you treat others with kindness and respect. He loves your heart that wants to give to make others’ lives a little better. I’m sure you see where I’m going - there is nothing he doesn’t love about you.

How encouraging to revel in (celebrate) that love. We don’t have to earn it. There is no thing that can separate us from it. It will heal us. Protect us. Preserve us. Save us. Enlarge us. Forgive us. Amazing. “Think about how much God the Father loves us. He calls us His children!” (1 John 3:1)

I hope you will give some of your day to simply sitting and basking in all the Lord is and has done on our behalf. I guarantee life will look so much better. Problems will not seem as daunting. You might even be tempted to say, “Yeah, it’s all good.”

Why not make basking a new habit? I care about you. I am praying for you.