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Journey on Creator’s good road

Lynne Baab • Thursday September 4 2025

Journey on Creator’s good road

“The time has now come. Creator’s good road is right in front of you. It is time to return to the right ways of thinking and doing! Put your trust in this good story I am bringing to you.”
—Jesus’s words to the crowd in Mark 1:15

“Come! Walk the road with me.”
—Jesus’s words to Simon and Andrew in Mark 1:17

“Right then and there they dropped their nets and began to walk the road with him.”
—Simon and Andrew’s response in Mark 1:18  

These quotations come from a remarkable translation of the New Testament, The First Nations Version, published in 2021 by InterVarsity Press. A dozen individuals, representing a wide variety of Native American tribes, made decisions about how to render names and key concepts in the translation. Jesus’s name is “Creator sets free.” For other individuals, names were chosen by translating their original biblical names into language that reflects Native American naming conventions. Matthew, for example, is Gift from Creator. John the Baptist is Gift of Goodwill and John the Gospel writer is He Shows Goodwill. I love Luke’s name—Shining Light.

This is the sixth post in a series on the ways the metaphor “journey”can help us follow Jesus. I was thrilled when an alert reader pointed out that in The First Nations Version, the kingdom of God is “Creator’s good road.”

I’ll give you a few more examples.

“It is time to return to the right ways of thinking. Creator’s good road from above is close. It is time to begin walking it.”
—John the Baptist to the people in Matthew 3:2

“Creator Sets Free (Jesus) continued to walk about and visit the villages. He taught in their gathering houses, helped people to understand about Creator’s good road, and healed people from every kind of sickness and disease.”
—Matthew 10:35

“Only one who has been born from above can see Creator’s good road.”
—Jesus’s words to Nicodemus in John 3:3

“Finding the way onto the good road from above is a hard thing for the ones who have many possessions”
—Jesus to the crowd after he tells the young man to give away all his possessions in Matthew 19:23

“Tribal tax collectors and those who sell sexual favors will find their way onto Creator’s good road ahead of you!”
—Jesus to the Jewish leaders in Matthew 21:31

“My way of ruling is a good road. It is not in the ways of this world.”
—Jesus to Pilate in John 18:36

“Kingdom” is used frequently in the Gospels: 53 times in Matthew, 17 in Mark, 41 in Luke, and three times in John. When “of” is added, Luke and Mark always refer to “kingdom of God” (32 times and 14 times, respectively). Matthew uses “kingdom of heaven” 31 times and “kingdom of God” four times.

The First Nations Version translates “kingdom” as “good road.” It uses “Creator’s good road” for “kingdom of God.” It translates “kingdom of heaven” as “good road from above” or “good road from the spirit-world above.”    

In my mind, the idea of a kingdom evokes mental pictures of a peaceful place with a castle and rich farmland all around. I see myself sitting in the castle at a banqueting table or in a big hall. I know this is not what Jesus intended when he spoke about God’s kingdom! But the static image is still there. “Creator’s good road” emphasizes movement, a journey, travelling companions, the effort to try to get someplace together. I love this emphasis on an invitation to walk on a path.

Thinking and walking are linked in several passages. Note the words of John the Baptist above: “It is time to return to the right ways of thinking. Creator’s good road from above is close. It is time to begin walking it” (Matthew 3:2). In Matthew 4:17, Jesus says, “Creator’s good road from above is close. It is time to change your thinking and begin your great journey.” This language in the First Nations Version makes clear that how we think influences how we act, and vice versa. That seems consistent with Jesus’s teaching.

Fruitfulness and walking the good road are also linked. After the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus says to the Jewish leaders: “Creator’s good road will be torn from you and given to a people who will bring its fruit to a full harvest” (Matthew 21:43).

The Apostle Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1 has always spoken to me about the way that knowing God, following God, and bearing fruit are linked, a kind of spiral upwards where each builds on the other. Here’s Paul’s prayer from the First Nations Version, followed by my own prayer.

“Ever since we heard about you, we have never stopped praying for you. When we send our voices to the Great Spirit, we ask that he will fill your heart and mind with the knowledge you need to walk in his ways with all spiritual wisdom and understanding. That you will walk in a manner that is worthy of our Honored Chief, making his heart glad and bearing good fruit as you walk the path he has chosen for you. In this way, you will grow wise in your understanding of our Great Creator” (Colossians 1:9, 10).

Creator and Redeemer, we ask you to continue to change our ways of thinking as we walk the good road from above. Help us see and know your truth so that we can bear good fruit as we walk the good road with you. Bring your fruit to a full harvest in us, we pray.

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Next week: God the Migrant. Illustration by Dave Baab: En Hakkore Retreat Centre, Orangapai, Central Otago, New Zealand.

Posts where I have described my own journey:



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