Laodicea was an interesting place.  It was a center of trade and medicine.  It was a popular location for worship of the emperor.  It was a bustling city.  And it’s also a city that probably shouldn’t have existed.  It had no natural resources that made it particularly astounding.  The water for the city was provided by aquaduct because it wasn’t near enough to good water.  Yet the city was a center of trade and played an important part in the medical community of the day.  Nearby springs were thought to be useful in treating a number of illnesses.  People would travel for miles to visit the springs and soak in their waters, but not drink them.  The waters were so mineral laden that they were not potable.  If you drank any you would imediately spit it out.

It’s easy to see, then, where Jesus gets his imagery to the church in Laodicea.  He accuses them of being neither hot nor cold and therefore he will spit them out.  Interestingly, the hot springs were very useful for medicine.  Cold springs, which produced cold, pure water, were also useful.  but lukewarm water had no use.  His warning is that if they fail to act on their faith, they become lukewarm.  If they begin to believe that they do not need God, they fail to have a place among the people of God.

Our faith isn’t a faith that is believed but not lived.  Faith requires that we act – that we do something!  God seeks us to live out our faith in Him.  If we let our faith set and become lukewarm, we have no place in the kingdom of God.  We must act if we are to live rightly with Christ.