The amnesty box – one temporary, one eternal

Recently, when flying back from vacation, this box in the corner just before the airport security checkpoint caught my attention. It was an amnesty box. Being the curious person I am, I asked the security person if I could ask a question before proceeding to the scanning area. What is an amnesty box? Her reply was that anything that would get you pulled out of line for violations prior to entering the gate area could be placed in there without question, such as knives, guns, drugs, etc. Otherwise, some things would be confiscated, while others would see you placed in custody and unable to fly.

This incident came back to mind yesterday when I read an article about a person detained for bringing a loaded gun through security — for the second time! Obviously, hearing the rules and experiencing the consequences the first time bringing a gun didn’t change their thinking or their actions. I remember waiting in the gate area thinking that we all need an amnesty box for our lives if we desire a relationship with God and the promise of spending eternity in His presence. The airport places it just before you enter security; a last chance before the “judgment” of security as to whether you should fly or not. God’s offer of an amnesty box comes at the cross, but it is more than simply dropping things off in the box.

God’s amnesty comes as we repent for the things we need to bring to the cross. That means a brokenness about the way we have lived and a desire to live differently, as God intends for us. The amnesty box requires trusting that if you pull out the offending item(s) and place them in the box, that no one holds them against you. We have to trust and place our faith in God that His provision of forgiveness means we are declared right before Him because of the work of Christ on our behalf.

There is another difference. The amnesty box at the airport simply means you lose that item, but as you get off the airplane wherever you are going, you can go and pick up the same offending item once again. The amnesty box of the cross means you no longer want those things that have plagued you and separated you from a relationship with God. And one last difference: if you never come to the cross — the amnesty box of God — then you are not able to enter His presence and eventually, you will die and be unable to ever come into God’s presence (a place called Hell). I John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Need to visit the amnesty box today? What stops you?

Pressing on…

Ron Tipton, Senior Pastor