I shared this lesson awhile back with my friends at the Principle Approach Yahoo Group and thought I would share it here also....

 Everyday after lunch, I sit down with my
kids and we read together. My son checked out a book from one of
his very favorite series: Amelia Bedilia! In fact we all love
Amelia Bedilia books (they were my favorite as a kid also!) Anyways,
as I was reading this to them I realized that this was a perfect
book to use to explain the difference between the letter of the law
and the spirit of the law. I finished the book and then asked the
kids what was the matter with what Amelia was always doing- wasn't
she doing exactly what she was told? They said she was, but she was
not doing what was intended. I explained that the same was true of
the Pharisees- they were so busy trying to follow the law that they
missed the intention of the law. We read and discussed Mark 12:30-
31 and that love encompassed all of the laws- this was the
intention. We also discussed how this applies to our government with the Constitution being the law and the Declaration of Independance being the intention.  It was so much fun to see this click for them!

God is so good and He gives us such amazing lessons from the most
unexpected places!