The Bearded Dragon
A two-foot-long lizard with a large head, whiplike tail, and a body covered with spines certainly deserves the name "dragon." The bearded dragon lives in Australia, in thin forests, deserts, and even along the shores.
The body of the bearded dragon is bulkier than that of other lizards, but it can stand greater temperature extremes than other lizards. Actually, the daily life of the bearded dragon is based on temperature changes from sunrise to sunset.
During the cool morning hours, the reptile turns its back to the sun and flattens its body to receive as much of the sun’s warmth as possible. As the day grows warmer, it begins to hunt. As the temperature rises, the animal may run along on its hind legs, exposing more of its body to cooling air. Eventually, however, it must find shade, where it will spend the hottest hours of the day. When the air begins to cool, the lizard emerges, raises its tail to keep it off the ground, which is still hot, and moves around on the toes of its forelegs and the heels of its hind legs. It faces the sun to reduce the heat striking its body.
In spite of its large size and ferocious appearance, the bearded dragon prefers to hide from danger than fight. Even when cornered, it swells its neck pouch, opens its mouth to show the yellow inside, and hisses in a way to scare off predators and rivals. Its bite is used, instead, on the insects, smaller lizards, and snakes that make up its diet.
How different in character is this dragon from the one of our text, Satan. It’s in the Bible, Revelation 12:9, "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…" He is a bold, deadly enemy who uses every trick of the trade to bring about our eternal loss. How good it is that Jesus has defeated him, and so made it possible for us to defeat him also.
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