facebook: Forgot your password?

To get into your facebook account you will always need to remember your user name and password. Your user name is easy because it is your email account that you use to connect with facebook. Your password can be whatever you decide, which can make it more random. Thinking about keeping these straight made me realize that we live in a password crazy world and it can get confusing.
I probably could not list from memory all of the places I use a password. My debit card has a PIN number. My social security number is used as a password sometimes. Both my cell phone and home phone accounts have passwords when I call customer service. I have accounts with Amazon.com, Christian Book Distributors, E-bay, Pay Pal, and many other on-line places that require passwords. It can be tough to remember all of those passwords and the proper user name that goes with them.
I thank God that our Christian faith does not have any passwords. There are not secret words or phrases that are needed to experience the love and grace of God. (I do believe there is power in the name of Jesus, but I would not call it a password.)
But the idea of forgetting your password means that you belong on facebook and have an account, but you have forgotten what gets you to your account. This made me think about the passage of Scripture from Revelation 2:1-7. This passage is about a church that was doing good work, but they had forgotten their first love. They had been in love with God and that had led them to endure hardships and work for God's kingdom, but somewhere along the way they forgot. They kept doing what they were doing before, but they forgot the reason they were doing it. In that passage they are called to remember and come back to their first love.
So I want to remind us as Christians that we too need to remember our first love. We need to remember the first time God let us know His presence. Remember the first time you knew God loved you.
For me it was 18 years ago at a camp called Wesley Woods near Indianola, Iowa. As I think back to that time I remember the joy, peace, and passion that filled my life as I realized the God of the universe loved me. As imperfect as I am, God loves me. Remembering that renews my excitement for sharing God's love even today.
Remember the first time you felt God's love. Not to live in the past of the glory days, but to be renewed and to serve and love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength today for His glory. Don't ever forget that God loves you.
If anyone wants to share their first experience with God just comment on this blog. It might help others to remember.