I missed a week of entries. Rather than try and fill them in now, I'm going to move ahead with some general remarks about Deuteronomy, which is actually one of my favorite books of the Old Testament. It is cast in the form of a speech that Moses gives to the Israelites as they are about to cross the Jordan into the main part of the territory that God had promised them as their homeland. Moses summarizes where the Israelites traveled, how they happened to spend an entire generation in the wilderness, and he reminds them of the important ways that things may change for them, especially with respect to their relationship with God once they are settled, once they are experiencing plenty instead of poverty. It is especially important because, of course, Moses will not be joining this new generation of Israelites as they cross over. And thus the speech functions also as a way for Moses to hand over the reins of leadership to Joshua.
Also, if you're ever running behind and wanting to catch up, you may want to focus on the Old Testament readings, which are perhaps less familiar than the New Testament chapters. It really is okay to sometimes skim these readings if they are full of geographical detail or names or lists. Taken as a whole, the Scriptures are the Word of God; but verse by verse you will find that some passages have greater potential than others to bring you closer to God. Having said this, however, I know of one woman who chose to follow Jesus because of the "begets," the genealogical passages. She thought that if these people's names mattered to the writers of the scriptures, they mattered to God, and so did she!
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