FOUNDATIONAL REMINDERS
Play Audio
If you prefer listening to today’s Bible guide reading, play this audio file.
If the audio bar is not appearing, click here to play the audio.
Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, make me attentive, ready to receive, and eager to apply all that you teach me.
Read 2 PETER 3:1–9
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The Day of the Lord
3 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Reflect
Scripture’s repetitions may well save us at critical times in our lives.
We saw last week that Peter sought to remind his audience of the importance of the basic teachings received through the Old Testament, as well as from the apostles. Reminders, again. Tedious, perhaps, repetitive, perhaps, but not if one thinks of the Bible—in one sense, but by no means definitively—as the ‘Standard Operating Procedures’ from the Manufacturer’s Handbook for Life. When unexpected crises arrive, unannounced and hard to comprehend, these standard operating procedures can mean the difference between life and death. Members of the persecuted church often emphasize that committing multiple verses of the Scriptures to memory kept them sane, hopeful, and strong despite the atrocities they suffered. A few years ago, I had the good fortune to be in the same auditorium as members of the persecuted church from Iran, China, and North Korea. A common thread in what they shared was the importance of holding tightly to the Bible: it was precious beyond measure.
Many of us who live in societies with religious freedom will encounter those whom the Spirit essentially identifies as scoffers (vv. 3–6). We may be tempted to dismiss, engage, or ignore them. Yet, in reminding ourselves of the reality of Judgment Day and our Lord’s commitment to keep his promises for those of us who believe, we can keep our focus on what is worthwhile in the long run.1 Time is not a constant for God, but a highly malleable variable, like clay in the hands of the potter, Peter reminds us (v. 8). Why is God patient? He gives each additional day for repentance—for those who turn toward Christ. For those of us committed to him, we do well to keep reminding ourselves of the larger purposes of life, and yield willingly to him.
Apply
Have skeptics affected your faith in recent times? Invite the Lord to guide your thinking and reading in fresh new ways with the goal of honoring Jesus alone.
Closing prayer
Holy Spirit, fill me afresh today and show me where I need to be more like Jesus. Continue to transform me into his image.
1 1 John 2:17.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2026 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.