Narrative Bible Reading

The way the Jewish people in Jesus day approached the Scriptures was from a narrative perspective. When we look into the Scriptures only for allegorical interpretation or for immediate principles and application to our life, we can miss the heart of God expressed in reading it in a story form. God inspired these men of old to write these stories to reveal something of Himself to us.

What's awesome about the Word of God is it is a story from Genesis to Revelation. They are specific accounts of God's working in Israel and the early church. The letters and the prophets are both messages within the context of those very stories. The law of studies is always to accept the text the way it was written BEFORE looking for application to our life. Many today first look for applications and messages that they miss the context of God's work and character. This is way there is so much confusion today.

What is everyone's thoughts on study of the Scriptures? Thoughts on narrative bible reading? Thoughts on taking Scriptures out of context?

For example...

Sometimes in devotional reading, we might grab the letter of Paul to the Philippians and look for something to apply to our life. So we'll skip over to Philippians 4:13 and read I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So then we'll tell ourselves "Yes I can do all things through Christ". While this is 100% true, we miss the fact that when Paul wrote this letter he was writing to a specific church with a specific message from a specific place. We lose the context in which it was written, and therefore we miss all that God might intend for us to read. Make sense?