I am using the term difference in the sense of a noticeable change or effect. In other words, if certain circumstances take place or events happen, what kind of noticeable change or effect will it have? We use the terminology frequently. “What difference will it make if I go or don’t go?” we ask. What we’re asking is whether or not my presence at the function will have an effect, one way or the other.

Sometimes we ask that question in the privacy of our own thoughts. And many times when we ask it, we’re not asking for a reason, but we’re preparing an excuse. What we’re really saying is not whether my presence will have an effect, but “I don’t want to go.”

I’ve chosen some questions we would do well to consider, using the question,

What difference does it make:

If I’m not there? After all, nobody much notices me anyway. If I’m not there nobody much cares, so I’ll just stay home.

If I get my lesson? Nobody cares what I say about anything anyhow, so why spend the time studying and answering all these questions. Besides, nobody will notice if I don’t have mine. So what difference does it make?

If I really worship? There’s nobody there who can read my heart, so if I want to just think about something else, nobody will know. Besides, my participation won’t help much anyhow.

If I tell anybody about the Lord? The last time I tried that they laughed at me. It was embarrassing. If I don’t tell anybody, at least I won’t get laughed at again. They won’t listen to me anyway, so what difference does it make?

If I say something I shouldn’t? After all, if I’m going to get along with my peers and fellow workers, I have to at least sound somewhat like them, don’t I? What I say doesn’t really matter to anybody anyhow.

If I don’t get caught? I want to do this. And just because somebody at church says it’s wrong, doesn’t make it so. Besides, if nobody knows about it, how or who can it hurt? What difference does it make?

If I exaggerate it a bit? After all, it’s not an outright lie. I need to be accepted just like everybody else, and if I have to make the story a little bigger than it really is, who’s going to know. And I’ll be a part of the group. A little lie’s a small price to pay for being a part, so who cares?

Well, it does make a difference. It makes a difference to God. He knows and He cares. And it makes a difference whether you go to heaven or not, doesn’t it? What difference does it make? Quite a lot, I’d say.