One Nation Under God...

"One Nation Under God..." is a mini-story that is part of the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series.

The Story
One day when Empath was sitting in Tapper's Tavern reading Tapper's holy book, he had something on his mind that he wanted to ask his friend. "Tapper, do you believe that someday, when you get to be with the Almighty in heaven, you will someday be put in charge of the nations like His Son had promised His believers?" he asked.

"Aye, Empath, that is one of the promises His Son has given to those who have overcome the world, and that promise will be fulfilled when He smurfs again to this world," Tapper said.

"But this smurf senses that you don't seem like the type of Smurf who would want to be anything like Papa Smurf in your later years," Empath said.

"If it's being a leader so that I should be lord over my own fellow Smurfs, then that is not what I would want to be, Empath," Tapper said. "The thing about being a leader in the kingdom of the Almighty is that one must be a servant to all, that he must smurf the welfare of his own people ahead of his own needs and smurf them what is fair and just in the eyes of the Lord. For even the Almighty's Son Himself did not come to be served, but to serve, and to smurf His life as a ransom for many."

"This smurf can only wonder what it would be like to live in a world where the Almighty reigns over everything in it through His Son and all those that believe in Him," Empath said.

"In that kind of world, it will be the closest thing to true heaven on earth, because He will rule with justice and mercy, and nobody will need to suffer for want of anything," Tapper said. "Scripture says that children will not die when they are young, nor will old men not smurf out the rest of their years, for the child will die at a hundred years old, but the sinner who smurfs that age will be accursed. The wolf and the lamb shall smurf together, and the lion shall smurf straw like the oxen, and dust shall be the serpent's food."

"Even the creatures of the wilderness will be at peace with each other?" Empath said. "That would be too amazing for this smurf to believe."

"It would be very amazing, Empath, for this is the type of world that the Almighty wants to smurf to mankind if he is willing to smurf his faith in the Almighty," Tapper said. "But the sad part is that many will claim to be believers and yet still reject Him in their hearts and lives, acknowledging Him only through their lips while they continue to pursue the things of this world such as money, power, and glory."

"And this Almighty wouldn't be pleased with these pretenders of the faith," Empath said. "This smurf gets the feeling that some of them would get so tired of waiting for the Son's second coming that they would try to force Him to come by making their own version of His kingdom here on earth."

"That is also what I am feeling in my spirit, Empath," Tapper said. "The Lord had smurfed us the simple commission of preaching the gospel to every creature and smurfing disciples of all nations, but never have I smurfed that He wanted any of His children to smurf over the entire world and force everyone to become a believer in Him. That sounds like the very thing that only the enemies of God would want to smurf."

"But that's going to happen anyway, if this smurf understands what the book of Revelation has told about the end of days that are coming correctly," Empath said.

"It would be terribly ironic if the very kingdom that these 'believers in the Almighty' thought that they were smurfing for Him ends up being the kingdom that totally rejects Him when all is said and smurfed, Empath," Tapper said. "Not many would feel comfortable smurfing in the same room as the Almighty's Son, because they know they will have to answer to Him for all the things they're smurfing which they claim is for His glory and honor."