We report the ab initio calculations of transport behaviors of an azobenzene molecular device which is similar to the experimental configurations. The calculated results show that the transport behaviors of the device are sensitive to the molecule-electrode distance and the currents will drop rapidly when the molecule-electrode distance changes from 1.7 Å to 2.0 Å. More interestingly, the negative differential resistance behavior can be found in our device. Nevertheless, it is not the inherent property of an azobenzene molecular device but an effect of the molecule-electrode distance. Detailed analyses of the molecular projected self-consistent Hamiltonian states and the transmission spectra of the system reveal the physical mechanism of these behaviors.