“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7, ESV).

Sin’s desire is contrary. Sin is working against us. When our flesh lusts for things of the world, we are desiring things that work against us. Use that knowledge to hate the lusts of the flesh. We lust after food, sugar—it’s harming you. It’s slowly killing you. It’s after your body. It’s after your future. Entertainment is after your mind. It’s filling your mind with distractions from God and His Word. It’s a replacement for God’s joy! It’s keeping you from seeking Christ and filling with His joy.

Is entertainment sin? Is it sin to fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the mind? Here’s what Paul says about such people. Ephesians 2:1-3, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (NKJV).

“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things” (Philippians 3:18-19, NKJV). When your mind is set on earthly things, lusting for them, thinking on them, dwelling on them, being controlled by them—you are an enemy of the cross of Christ and your end is destruction. According to those scriptures, it’s how we walked when we were dead in sin. Those who walk in the lusts of the flesh are children of wrath. It’s what the scriptures said.

Sin wants you to die. Flee from it like you’d flee a hungry cobra or angry mother bear. God, however, is for us. The things He chooses for us, walking in the light of His Word, walking in the Spirit with our minds on Him and His Word and His love and His goodness, are life to us. They bring the peace and joy and love we crave. They bring us faith and hope and goodness and all the blessings of heaven.

Satisfying the flesh brings a momentary satisfaction but its end is death. Satisfying your spirit in Christ will mean denying the flesh in the moment, but eternal life is on the other side.