I was having a discussion with a very important person in my life. They shared a poignant discovery in their devotional time with our Father. We talked at length about the matter and I said to myself, “there is no way that this can be kept between us.” The discovery was, there needs to be an awakening of the heart of true sonship! What does that mean? In simple terms, there is a silent drift that is taking place. There is a tragedy more silent than open rebellion, and more dangerous than overt sin. It is the slow, subtle fading of love for God — often unnoticed until the heart grows cold and the soul forgets what it means to be His child.
This fading is not usually the result of one dramatic fall. It happens quietly, through little compromises, shifting affections, and forgotten devotions. Without realizing it, many believers, including myself, begin to use God for their own ends, seeking His blessings while their hearts drift far from His embrace.
The beauty of it all, the story does not have to end in silence or loss. God, in His mercy, calls His sons and daughters back — not into a cold compliance, but into a living, breathing relationship where love is awakened anew.
This is the awakening of true sonship.
The Silent Drift: How Love Grows Cold
No one sets out to lose their first love. No one wakes up and decides that God will become secondary. The drift is almost always imperceptible at first — a missed prayer here, a compromised obedience there, a heart divided between holy pursuit and worldly ambition.
Like a boat untied from its anchor, the soul slowly floats away from the shore of intimacy without feeling the current’s pull.
Over time, symptoms begin to emerge: Prayers become mechanical. Worship feels forced. Sin becomes tolerable. God’s Word, once sweet, feels burdensome or irrelevant.
And often, believers mistake the absence of visible rebellion for the presence of spiritual health. They still “attend church”, still serve, still give — but their hearts are no longer captivated by the Person of God. Their love has faded, but outward motion has hidden inward erosion.
The Danger of “Faithful” Drifting
Here is the plot twist that few ever confront:
It is possible to outwardly serve God faithfully while inwardly drifting far from Him.
Service does not always equal surrender. Activity does not always equal affection. In fact, sometimes the most dangerous place to be is busy for God without being surrendered before God. In Revelation 2, Jesus commends the church in Ephesus for their endurance, discernment, and toil — yet He issues a devastating indictment:
“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:4, ESV)
They were active but absent. Doctrinally sound but devotionally hollow. Working hard but loving little. God does not merely want our works. He wants our hearts. The true enemy of sonship is not always rebellion — it is often distraction. A slow exchanging of love for obligation, intimacy for performance, relationship for religion.
When we serve without love, give without joy, obey without adoration, we mirror the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal son — near the Father’s house, but far from the Father’s heart. This is the true silent drift!
Awakening the Heart of True Sonship
Awakening does not begin with more striving, but with honest recognition: “My heart has grown cold. My love has faded. Father, rekindle my affection for You.”
It is in this moment of humility that the Father rushes in. Not with condemnation, but with compassion. He does not scold the returning heart; He embraces it. He does not demand repayment; He clothes it in honor. True sonship is not about working for acceptance — it is about living from the acceptance already purchased by Christ’s blood. When we awaken to this, love is no longer a duty; it becomes our deepest desire. Obedience flows not from fear, but from delight. We no longer seek God’s hand; we seek His face. We no longer use Him; we are consumed by Him.
This is what it means to be a true son or daughter: To love the Father with the kind of love that can only be birthed by His Spirit within us.
A Call to Return
If you sense even the faintest chill in your love for God, do not harden your heart. Do not wait for complete collapse to confess the drift. The Father stands ready — not merely to forgive cold love, but to ignite it into a blazing fire once again.
“Return to Me,” He says, “and I will return to you.” (Malachi 3:7, ESV)
Let the silent drift end today. Let the awakening begin now!
Awakening is not a moment. It is a way of life. The love that is rekindled in the secret place must find its way into the ordinary — into the kitchen, the classroom, the commute, the late-night conversation. It is in the small, hidden spaces of daily life that true sonship shines brightest.
Rediscovering Love for God
An awakened heart no longer approaches God with a checklist, but with continual communion. It no longer measures worth by outcomes, but by intimacy with the Father. In the quiet mornings, the awakened child lingers a little longer in prayer, not to fulfill a duty but because the soul aches for the Father’s voice. During the tensions of the day, love for the Father shapes the response — slowing the tongue, guarding the thoughts, extending grace.
At the achievement of success, the awakened child kneels low, recognizing that all good things flow from the Father’s hand. In moments of failure, the awakened child runs to the Father, not from Him, knowing that acceptance was never based on performance.
True sonship is not a role we play — it is a relationship we embody. It alters the way we forgive, when we realize how much we’ve been forgiven. We are transformed in the way we serve, because love makes no demand for recognition. True sonship increases the way we hope, since we are no longer orphans scrambling for survival, but heirs walking in confidence.
The heart that is awakened to true sonship learns to see every moment — every joy, every sorrow, every ordinary step — as a chance to reflect the love of the Father.
Sonship is not something we visit on Sundays. It is the air we breathe, the name we bear, and the love we live. This is the life you were called to.
This is the life your Father longs to see you walk in — awake, alive, and deeply, gloriously loved. The love of the Father has not faded toward you.
He still calls you His beloved child.
Will you return to true sonship? I certainly am!
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All Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version (ESV), unless otherwise noted.