Devotion and Justin Bieber

Breakfast television was captivating viewing last Monday morning, caused by a certain individual – Justin Bieber. My family watched as we heard the news of the live concert being cancelled, the swarming of the television studio by hundreds of female tweens and finally the one-song, studio performance of the bite-sized Canadian.

But what got my attention was the devotion of the thousands of fans to this pop (although I’m sure he’d like to be known as R&B) star. Some camped out all night at Circular Quay, others flew in from interstate, some made signs, all screamed at the sight of even a picture of Justin and all knew every word to his song. It made me reflect on our devotion to Jesus. What can we learn from these fans on how we relate to Jesus?

They were devoted to Justin, but is Jesus the one we are ultimately devoted to? Do we take every opportunity to get to know him better? Do he and his word fill our minds so that we live lives to please him? Can we not help but share our excitement over him to others? Does it lead us to do crazy things like love our enemies or get up early to read the Bible and pray?

But how do we grow this devotion to Jesus within us? We do this not by the excitement of going to a concert or stalking a celebrity, but by the ordinary activities of reading and reflecting on God’s word, being part of a Christian community and praying to our heavenly Father. It is in these ‘ordinary’ things that we see Jesus and how worthy he is of our devotion.

So if we’re excited over someone, then enjoy their music or movies or even their appearances on TV. But our devotion to them should pale into insignificance compare with our devotion to Christ. He has loved us, not by performing for us, but by dying for us. He has given us true cause to celebrate because by trusting in him we have a right relationship with our Creator.