day no. 15,333: jettison and justifcation

Philippians 3:3-9
(We) worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith

"Every ship master, when in a storm, will willingly cast that overboard which is of the smallest value in the vessel; but who will throw the best out first?" -- Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Captains do not jettison their cargo unless there is no other way to save the ship. And even in those rare circumstances where jettisoning good is employed, there is an order to how it takes place. You begin by tossing over the most expendable items on board. In other words, you lose first, what you can most easily afford to lose. It isn't until all hope appears to be lost and no other way of escape remains that the most precious cargo will be abandoned to the depths of the sea. At that point, the only thing remaining on the boat are the lives of those you are trying to save. 

A man will not turn to Christ until he sees his situation as so desperate as to toss even his best overboard. Until he sees that his ship is going down as long as any item of value remains, he remains in danger. But once he tosses it over, he finds he is able to receive the fullness of Christ's treasures onto his ship. His emptiness leads to fulfillment. The jettisoned boat makes room for the treasures of another vessel.