Plenty of people want to make a difference with their lives. Why do so few end up really making a difference? Fear. Let’s review the path to a place of influence. The journey almost always begins with living like you have nothing to lose. When you live like you have nothing to lose, you can rise far. But the higher you rise, the more you have and the more the thought enters your mind that you would like to keep what you have - be it more stuff, more status or more power. So the temptation is to live like you have arrived. The focus turns inward and risk-taking dies. This is also when our opportunity to make a real difference begins to die. For this reason, we need people in our lives who can remind us to live like we have nothing to lose. This does not mean we live recklessly or carelessly. This does not mean we live without values and principles. Indeed, just the opposite. We are willing to lose our position, our comfort, everything that says we have arrived, for the sake of something we believe in, something more valuable than a focus on self. Many years ago, a Jewish girl was able to rise to the position of Queen to King Xerxes, King of Persia. Her name was Esther. Some in the Persian kingdom hated the Jews. When one of them hatched a plan to destroy the Jews, only one person could make a difference sufficient to save the Jews, Esther. Problem is, Esther was not so thrilled about the prospect of interceding. She had much to lose. She hesitated to get involved. When a Jewish relative heard about Esther’s hesitation, he sent her this reply,“…if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arrive from some other place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for just such a time as this?”(Esther 4:14) Esther changed her mind and decided to live like she had nothing to lose and it saved her people. How about you? Don’t let fear rob you of a life lived making a difference. We raise the bar on our discipleship when we live like we have nothing to lose.