Introduction: Welcome to Anchored

Stand on any shore where boats are kept, whether it’s a harbour, a fishing beach on a lake or a muddy river bank, and watch what happens when the weather turns. The wind picks up. The water gets rough. Boats that aren’t tied to anything start to drift, and some of them end up on the rocks. But the boats that are anchored swing round to face the wind and stay exactly where they are.

An anchor doesn’t stop the storm. The waves still come and the boat still rocks. What an anchor does is hold. It reaches down past the surface, where everything is moving, and grips something that isn’t moving at all.

That picture comes straight from the Bible:

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf.”

— Hebrews 6:19–20 (BSB)

The writer is saying that a Christian’s hope isn’t fastened to a mood, a good week or a feeling at a youth camp. It’s fastened to Jesus Himself, who has gone ahead of us into the very presence of God. He is the fixed point. When everything on the surface of your life is moving, He isn’t.

And at your age, a lot is moving: your body, your friendships, your family, your exams, the phone that never stops buzzing. You may also be asking questions you didn’t ask when you were ten. Is any of this actually true? Who am I, really? Does following Jesus work in real life? Those are good questions. This book is written for people who are asking them.

What’s in this book

This is Book 1 of Anchored, and its thirty days come in three parts:

• Part 1 · Is It True? (Days 1–10). Doubt, God, the Bible, the historical Jesus, the resurrection, suffering, science, other religions and the times when God feels silent.
• Part 2 · Who Am I? (Days 11–20). What God says about you: made in His image, completely known, more than your feed, free from the comparison trap, forgiven when you’ve blown it, not alone when you’re anxious or lonely, and adopted into His family.
• Part 3 · Following for Real (Days 21–30). What following Jesus looks like with your actual life: counting the cost, standing alone, temptation, purity, what you post, who your friends are, your parents, prayer, hearing God, and holding on.

Along the way, Day 8 includes a clear invitation to trust Jesus for yourself. If you’ve never done that, take your time with that day.

How each day works

Each day takes about ten minutes and has six parts:

1. The verse. A passage from the Bible. Read it slowly.
2. The teaching. A few minutes of reading that unpacks the passage and what it has to do with your life.
3. Think about it. One or two honest questions. Think them through, write down your answer or talk about it with someone you trust.
4. Try this. One concrete thing to do today.
5. Go deeper. A classic from the Ochorus library, written by Christians who asked the same questions long ago. Pascal, Chesterton, Bunyan, Augustine and the others weren’t people who never doubted. Many of them wrestled with exactly what you’re wrestling with, and what they found is still worth reading. Each day names the chapter to start with.
6. The prayer. A short prayer you can pray as it is, or use as a starting point for your own words.

A few tips

• Pick a time and a place. Before school, on the bus, after dinner, before you sleep. The same time each day turns it into a habit.
• Use a Bible. Look up the passage in a printed Bible or a Bible app and read the verses around it.
• Write things down. Keep a notebook or a notes file for your answers, your questions and your prayers. A question you write down today might be answered on a day you don’t expect.
• Don’t do it alone. Read alongside a friend, a brother or sister, a parent or a youth leader, and compare notes.
• Bring your questions. If something here doesn’t convince you, don’t pretend it does. Ask God about it, and ask a Christian you trust. Faith that has faced its questions is stronger than faith that never looked.
• Missed a day? That’s fine. This isn’t a streak to protect. Just pick up where you left off. God isn’t keeping score, and He’s glad you’re here.

One honest word before you start: this book can’t make you a Christian, and reading it won’t make you grow. Only God does that. But He has promised that people who seek Him with their whole heart will find Him. Thirty days of seeking is a good place to begin.

Let’s drop anchor.

For parents, grandparents and leaders

Anchored is written for readers aged 13 to 17 to read on their own, though it works just as well alongside an adult or in a small group, and the “Think about it” questions make good conversation starters. It takes teenagers’ questions seriously and gives real reasons rather than slogans. Each day’s Scripture is quoted from the Berean Standard Bible. Day 8 includes a clear, gentle invitation to trust Christ; if your teen responds, please talk it through with them. Two days speak plainly about sensitive subjects: Day 16 on anxiety and Day 24 on purity. Both are written with care, and both point the reader to a parent or trusted adult. You may want to read those days first.