There once was a silver dragon who had angry, orange eyes. He lived deep inside a large cave. Like many other dragons, he sat upon hoards of jewels and diamonds and precious things, and he kept all people away from himself and the treasure. And, like other dragons, he breathed out fire, and he had great wings which he kept folded by his silvery side. This dragon was angry because he was lonely. If you looked closely at his angry eyes you could see that he was a very sad dragon. After all, dragons have no friends.

During the night he would lie on his treasure and keep himself warm by breathing fire on his silver scales, which would stay warm for quite some time before he had to breath on himself again. He didn't think a lot at night, even when he didn't sleep, because dragons don't like to think much. It hurts to think of how lonely you are!

But there was something different about this dragon, too. When the sun would come up in the morning and a beam of warm light would shine into the cave, the silver dragon would not be able to be sad, or mad, or sleep anymore. And he wouldn't be able to think just a little. By some strange magic, the sunshine was able to get through the thick scales of this great silver beast, and it would make him want to leave the cave, and fly towards the sun! And so every morning he arose with the sun.

A beautiful thing happened when he flew way up high. When he went really close to that yellow sun the dragon would no longer be silver, but- if you can imagine it- he would look like flying light! The rays of light would go right through him and make him shimmer, and shine, and sparkle much better than any of his jewels did back in the cave. He was so different in the sun that instead of fire he breathed a glorious rainbow of light! And he would grow- much bigger- than he was in the dark cave. What was best of all was this: when he was next to the sun he wouldn't feel like a dragon anymore! He was happy, and good, and kind. He was so kind that he wanted to spend all of his time protecting the world below him from other dragons who hated light, and flew about in the shadows looking for people to attack.

And so the silver dragon would fly about looking for men, women, and children who were in danger from other dragons. He would swoop down and breath a rainbow into the eyes of the bad dragons, who would close their eyes and shriek, flying away from the people who they were trying to hurt or kill. When the people saw the rainbow in the distance, they knew the silver dragon was near- they could relax and rejoice and work hard again! And sometimes, the silver dragon would fly near enough that he would be able to look a person in the eye. With one steady look they knew each other. He could see they knew him and loved him, and they could see the light in his great eyes.

There were two children, a brother and sister, who once got to look into the dragon's eyes. That was a thrill! But Stephen and his sister Allison had a problem. They were almost always sad or bored, just like the dragon when he was in his dark cave.

The silver dragon began to notice this, so one day he flew up next to the house and actually landed outside their window! The children were so excited they didn't know what to do or say. But the dragon said, "Dear children, why are you always so sad and bored?" The children were shocked. They didn't know the dragon could speak! The dragon waited patiently for an answer.

Stephen finally spoke up, "Mr. Dragon, Sir, my sister and I wish we could be like you."

"Like me?" said the dragon. "I am only a great beast, but you two are human, the greatest creatures in all of God's creation. Why would you want to be like me?"

"Because you can fly," said Allison.

"And because you always seem so happy," said Stephen.

Then the dragon looked deeply into their eyes with his great orange eyes and said something they never expected to hear. He said, "Dear children, I am not always happy. I am only happy when the sun shines on me. And you too will only be happy when the Son shines on you. Have you stepped into the Light?"

Stephen questioned him cautiously, "Sir, we play outside in the sunshine, and it is fun, but we are never as happy as you are."

The dragon looked even deeper into their eyes and said, "That is because you play in the wrong light. What makes me happy is the sun. That is the most happy I can be. But God made humans for a different kind of Son. In fact, you humans were made to be with the Maker of the yellow sun you can see in the sky. Jesus Christ made the sun, made the world, and He made you. He is the Son of God and He shines with an invisible light that is much better than the sunshine which changes me. You don't need the 's-u-n'. You need to step into the 'S-o-n.' Jesus is the true light of the world. His face shines brighter than the sun. Ask Him to shine on you with His bright and warm love."

The children thought long and hard about this. They said, "But we can't see the Son of God, we can only see that big yellow thing He put in the sky."

"Yes," said the dragon, "but the Son of God can see you. Why don't you step into His Light?"

"How do we do that?"

The dragon smiled. There was a great tenderness in his giant eyes. "All you need to do is tell Jesus that you want Him. Ask Him to shine in your heart. Tell Him you are sorry for not loving Him before, but that now you want to love Him with all of your heart. If you ask, He will shine in your heart with His own Light, and give you a happiness that is more than you can understand."

The children could hardly believe what they were hearing. But they did believe it. They said thank you to the dragon for telling them about the great Son of God, the dragon said they were very welcome, and he flew quietly away. The children went to a quiet place and did a lot of thinking about the Son of God, and then they asked Him to shine on them, and to shine inside them, and to give them His Love. Jesus did so, because, if you can believe it, He is even more kind than the silver dragon!

As the silver dragon flew away the sun started to go down in the sky, and he started to feel weak. And then he felt himself shrink in size. He once again became a nervous dragon, and worst of all, a selfish one. So in the dark he flew back to his cold lair. He crawled onto the jewels and his mind grew dark. He was very lonely. He forget all about talking with Stephen and Allison. He went to sleep.

The next morning, though, a beam of sunlight came warmly into his cave, and he remembered who he really was- a caring dragon! As he opened his orange eyes the first thing he saw were two of the happiest looking children he ever saw. Stephen and Allison were standing outside the cave, waiting for him! He now had friends! The dragon rushed out of the lair and stood up very tall in the sunshine. And with a smile he breathed a gentle rainbow onto his new friends. The children laughed at their happy friend.

He told them, "You will not always feel the warm Light of Jesus in your hearts, but He rises again!"

The children got onto the silver dragon's back and left the dragon-treasure behind. They soared high towards the sun, and as the dragon spread his giant wings to soak up the sun, the children closed their eyes and soaked up the Son of God in their hearts. They went flying on a wild adventure, helping rescue people from all sorts of bad dragons. The children were brave and happy, because inside them lived the very greatest power, Jesus, Who is the Light of the World.

Does Jesus live in you? Why don't you step into His light? You can talk to him just like Stephen and Allison did. You can tell Jesus that you want Him. Ask Him to shine in your heart. Tell Him you are sorry for not loving Him before, but that now you want to love Him with all of your heart.

Maybe you need to go to a quiet place so you can talk to Him.