For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother. Then he taught me, and he said to me, “Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. (Proverbs 4:3-5 NIV).

Dear Ian,

I’m writing to tell you some things I wish I’d figured out when I was a lot younger.
First, get saved. Do it now, right away. I know it seems unlikely but you might die tomorrow, so find someone who believes the Bible and ask them to help you.
Next, read the Bible. Don’t use the ones they have at school. You might get to love the King James translation later, but for now read something like the New International Version. It’s the same Bible, but easier to read.
The Bible is full of wonderful things, but I get that there’s a lot in it — so I want you to read to chapters a day. There are four books called “gospels” — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Start with chapter 1 of Matthew, and read one chapter a day until you get to the end. Then start again … unless you feel you want to move on. There’s another book called “Proverbs”. It was written by a really smart man called Solomon. It’s just full of good advice (I might write you another letter about that some time). Read one chapter a day of that one too. It so happens that it has 31 chapters, so you’ll get through in a month. When you get to the end, start again. It will surprise you — you’ll keep discovering new things! (The words at the head of this letter come from that book in the Bible version I talked about).
Next, pray! O.K., I know all the praying you’ve seen is in church and at school, and it seems like old men with “churchy” words. Forget it, that’s not it. Praying is about talking to God, telling Him what’s on your mind, being honest about what’s going on in your life, and asking His help.
Find a good local church (and be there every Saturday or Sunday at least, and more if you can). Why do I say Saturday? Well, if you don’t like the old-style Sunday morning service, a lot of churches have something “younger” on Saturday evening. The great thing about church is that there are people who will help you with all that other stuff I just talked about. You don’t want to do it all on your own — and you don’t need to. People in churches are just like you — fallible, prone to make mistakes, but well meaning. Give them a chance.
Lastly, keep in touch! Let me know how all this is working for you. I can tell you that it will change your life, and it will be great — but it won’t always be easy. There will be times when you’ll wonder what you’re doing. So call me.

Ian, you’re going to do all this one day. I know that if you wait as long as I did you’ll end up wondering why. So do it now.
With love,
Your elder self.