As the clear raindrops fall from the sky they drip down from surface to surface, waiting for a suitable receptacle to embrace them. The cleanliness of each surface and vessel determines how pure the drops will remain. Droplets that didn't find a receptacle to hold them make their way back to the ocean, to rise up to heaven and fall again in the hope of being utilized in the grand plan of the Creator.
We are the ones who determine how the water gets used. We can take shelter from the rain and die of thirst as plentiful water gets washed away, we can stand in the rain and enjoy the water without thought of tomorrow, or we can prepare pure vessels to retain Heavenly blessing.
There are many forms of Heavenly blessing. Wisdom, beauty, talent and wealth are all blessing that can be used for self-aggrandizing enterprises, or for noble causes. They can be polluted by stagnating in murky containers or kept fresh by constant use and care.
Most of the world receives its blessings through heavenly channels that take the orginal blessing and lead it down to earth. Since these spiritual channels seem to us as if they are dispensing blessing, people tend to idolize them, instead of realizing who their true Benefactor is. There is one Holy Land, however, on which unlimited Heavenly blessing falls straight from its true Benefactor, without the limitations of any conduits or channels. It comes down clear and pure out of the sky, measure for measure according to their deeds. There is no mediator to manipulate, no tricks or deceptions, what you do is what you get.
Moshe Rabbeinu chastised the nation that had attained at Mount Sinai the ultimate blessing, eternal holiness, and promptly lost it. He himself merited making a receptacle for the Torah's holiness, spiritually within himself, and physically in a wooden ark. He beseeched them to learn their lesson and preserve their inborn purity; to make a receptacle worthy of all the blessings He wants to give us.
Adapted from Rabbi Vali's book on Dvarim. Questions and subscriptions can be mailed to: the Yeshiva