Books: Made Ready in the Fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord has been a burning passion in Tristan’s life, consuming and driving him close to the Lord since he was a young boy, so this is a book birthed in revelation and business done with the Lord on his knees and face.

Tristan reminds us that we should earnestly desire to know the fullness of who Jesus is. God, the Father, loves us and has called us to know His Son so that we may be saved but now that we have received the grace of God and been adopted into His family, we are called to walk in His holiness, becoming more like Christ. And this is where the book challenges us as the Body of Christ to return to the fear of the Lord because ‘through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord, evil is avoided.’ Proverbs 16:6.

In Proverbs 8:13 we also read that ‘the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil’ and here Tristan hits the nail on the head by stating that the key to Christian living is obedience and faithful living, and when we hate evil and are motivated to stay away from sin, the path of obedience is set before us.

As an ex-soldier I was struck by the term ‘made ready’ in the title, which reinforces the sense of urgency and is a direct call to action as the Church once again takes hold of the fear of the Lord in preparing for the return of Christ. Tristan highlights that as Noah was warned of the coming wrath of God on the earth, in faith he believed it to be true, and was gripped by a holy fear. So too must we be attentive to the approaching Day and make ourselves ready.

In Jesus’ prayer for His disciples and all believers in John 17, his request is, “Holy Father, protect them, by the power of your name”, because the Good Shepherd knows we need protection from the evil one, which will keep us holy and committed to God and His holy ways. And here Tristan once again brings the same point home – that the fear of the Lord is essential in our lives for ‘the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.’ Exodus 20:20. It is a deeply challenging book that can help us keep alive to the Holy Spirit, being constantly aware that we are carriers of the presence of God, and you cannot fail to hear the prophetic clarion call running through the pages urging us to make ready in the fear of the Lord for the return of the Messiah. But it is also an easily navigated book, grounded in scripture and giving us practical examples of its outworking in life as a Christian seeking to follow the Lord.

Let me end with the words of Oswald Chambers, a missionary and YMCA padre who died in 1917 whilst on active service, and a man who lived in the holy fear of the Lord: “The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”