Do not keep your sword from bloodshed...

"A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD's work!
A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed!”
Jeremiah 48:10

It has been the prayer of my heart of late that I may see clearly the work that the Lord has for me and that I may do that work in loving obedience; the obedience that comes from the grace of Christ which is so lavishly poured out in us!

I am not one which is given to praying much specifically in opposition to the enemy of the saints, particularly not addressing that old serpent directly. But the second stanza of this verse caught my attention this morning. Have I kept my sword from bloodshed is the question I ask myself. Have I spared the enemies which God has specifically asked me to slay?

Recollect the familiar story of Saul and the Amalekites from 1 Samuel 15. Verses two and three:

“This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' "

As we know, Saul failed to follow the word of the Lord precisely. He pretended he had, and might possibly have actually believed he had (See V13 and V20). In the same breath, by his own admission, he had kept some of the animals and the King, Agag, alive. As a result, the Lord took the kingdom of Israel from him.
Is there anything in my life that God has addressed as such? Is it possible that I am have lost my desire for the kingdom of God because there is something that God specifically told me to utterly destroy and I kept my sword from bloodshed?

Lord-
I know that there are things in my life about which you have spoken. Things which you have told me must be utterly destroyed. Help me this day to face these foes head on, not keeping my sword from bloodshed! The enemy has placed many stumbling blocks in my path, but I now agree to do as you have said, to follow your instruction precisely and destroy his works and his influences in my life.