Being thankful is a theme shared today across the land as we gather together for a meal (or two) with family and friends. But are we directing our thanks both vertically and horizontally? Consider this verse:

1 Thessalonians 1:10 (ESV)

10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Many of us will recount the things we are most thankful for, but I wonder if being delivered from the wrath of God will be among the things Christians will express thanks over.

We all should think of this wrath and consider the solemn truth that it abides on them (John 3:36), and they must be saved from it or perish forever.

The severity and certainty of this wrath is evident when we consider that the “wrath to come” is the wrath of GOD. Our Scripture is not speaking of the wrath of a man or a woman, wrath which can often be appeased by an apology—or which, for that matter can even be ignored. Nor is it wrath that will diminish with the passing of time, for the wrath of God is not like the turbulent passion of man.

God’s wrath, rather, is wrath borne of a righteous and holy indignation against sin: “for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). Sinners deserve the wrath of God, for it is their very sins that provoke it.

“The wrath to come” is without mercy. In this life, regardless of how great the affliction is, there are always moments of mercy, times of relief, and some glimmer of hope for the future. But not so with the wrath of God. There will be no mercy, no hope; and any doctrine created by man that invokes a second chance is simply fantasy. Remember, how Abraham declared to the rich man in hell that there was a great gulf fixed to which neither side can pass from one to the other (Luke 16:26).

This wrath is also endless. “The wrath to come” will ALWAYS be the wrath to come for those who have chosen this path. Endless wrath for which there is no remedy, no death, no moment of reprieve—a pure eternity of wrath.

But those who have called on the Lord have been delivered.

As Christians, we have been set free from the wrath of God by the atoning work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. It took the blood of God’s Son to make our deliverance possible, for without the shedding of blood, there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22).

Since we are delivered from God’s wrath, we are saved to a home in heaven. This precious gift should cause us to be truly thankful this day and every other day we draw breath!

So, as you gather around your Thanksgiving tables today, pause and reflect on the perfect gift you have been given—undeservedly no less—of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and what it means for you eternally. Be thankful for the gift of the Holy Spirit that indwells within you; be thankful for God opening your heart to believe in the one true path to Him.

Consider what it means to truly be thankful. May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving such as this.