I hope you had a great weekend, whether or not it was filled with July 4th 250th birthday celebrations. That was the big deal everyone knew about, but another huge event was what some people have described as possibly the most notable wedding of the century between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. If you’ve been living under a rock somewhere, that’s the international pop music superstar and the pro football player whose love affair has been closely followed around the world for the last several years.
It was a no holds barred event. The news says they got married officially in a very private small ceremony. Then they hosted a dinner with close family and friends. On Friday, they opened it up and invited approximately one thousand people to celebrate with them.
Where did all this originate? Well, Travis and Taylor themselves may not be aware, but love itself and marriage is rooted in God. The Word tells us that God IS love. Not that He simply loves. Love is His character. It all flows from Him.
Then marriage was His idea. He knew we needed each other in a committed and growing relationship for our health and transformation. So He created marriage. It is all intended in God’s original thought to be so beautiful that He uses it as symbolism for His relationship with us. We are His bride, and one wonderful day there will be an amazing wedding banquet when we’re all together forever in heaven. Read your Bible. You’ll learn that everything good has its origin in God and His great love for us.
Families are His idea.
Neighbors are His idea.
Communities are His idea.
The Church is His idea.
Prayer is His idea.
I could go on and on. Did you know that even every wonderful benefit we get from science is His idea? He gave humans the intelligence and capacity to discover the secrets of the elements in the universe He created and use them for our good.
James 1:17 reminds us that everything genuinely good and flawless comes directly from the Father of lights. Focusing on the Giver rather than the gift transforms our daily perspective, helping us recognize His unchanging character through all of life's shifting seasons.
James describes God as the "Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” The sun, moon, and stars we rely on for light regularly shift, fade, and cast moving shadows. Yet, God's nature remains absolute. When we experience changing seasons, unexpected storms, or difficult trials, His generous and loving character never wavers.
God’s gifts include daily provisions like the breath in our lungs, the beauty of nature, and our daily needs for life. He meets our needs spiritually with grace, patience, peace, and the ultimate gift of His presence. Even the trials we face can be experienced as perfect gifts if we remain faithful and allow them to draw us closer to Him in dependence and trust.
I agree with Alistair Begg. Because every blessing originates from the God who loves us more than we can imagine, our default response should be deep gratitude. “Sometimes it is easy to fix our eyes solely on the blessings themselves, but true peace comes from looking at the Giver. When we realize that He freely gives us what we need out of immense love, our hearts naturally shift from anxiety and entitlement to profound thankfulness.”
Every big and little blessing is God’s idea birthed from the biggest and deepest love. Thank You, Father!