By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?—Matthew 7:16.

They were cousins—sons of two sisters. According to Akan tradition, either of them could be the Asantehene, king of the Ashantis of Ghana. With multiple claimants presented to the elders, the first consideration is usually age. Since Kofi was the older nephew, he assumed he was the automatic successor to the aged king. He was the local boy and easily recognized as the Crown Prince.

Kwaku made his living abroad. Growing up, his mother reminded him to live like a prince—above the ordinary. To help him maintain that perspective, his mother sent him to live with a royal family in another region for a crash course in royal protocol. Kwaku took it seriously, and that instructed his lifestyle. Decency and integrity marked his life, and people respected him.

When the king died, the elders chose Kwaku as his successor. Kofi took things for granted as the Crown Prince and lived carelessly. His unroyal character cost him the stool. His desperate appeals could not bend the customs and tradition of the Ashantis.

The moral of this story is that claiming to be a descendant of a royal family and heir apparent does not guarantee the throne to anyone. A person’s character makes the difference. 

God does not reckon membership in His Kingdom through birth into a Christian family or church membership. Simply praying the sinner’s prayer does not automatically guarantee heaven to anyone. Their transformed life that glorifies must always validate a person’s confession of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord God (Jn. 1:12, 13; Rm.10:9, 10; 12:1-2). 

John the Baptist warned the Jews to “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For… out of these stones God can raise children for Abraham” (Luke 3:8). As Jesus said, “By their fruit, you will recognize them… A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matt. 7:16, 18).  

We thank God that He did not raise children unto Himself out of stones to fulfill His promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:3) but has done it through His Own Son, Jesus Christ (Jn. 3:16; Gal. 3:14, 29). That is why we who have put our trust in Jesus are sons of God and “heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:16, 17). As children of God, Paul admonishes us to walk by the Spirit that we will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:15). The only valid claim of a person to heaven is evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit and His fruit in the person’s lifestyle (22-23).     

So, can others say that your lifestyle validates your claim to sonship of the Most High?